Mar 24th to 26th - Mesa

Mar 24th – Sat
After a breakfast of cinnamon rolls we went to visit Ernie & Dianne. They have had so much company that we haven’t seen them much since we came back. Next we went to Valle del Oro (another Cal-Am park) to cheer Dennis on in the Pinewood Derby. For those who don’t know – including us until a few weeks ago – pinewood derby race cars are little wooden cars made by each contestant. They start with a standard kit and customize as much as possible and still stay at 5 ounces or less and still conform to certain rules.
The setup in the ballroom at VDO was great. There was a 6 lane metal track that starts about 6 feet high, goes down in a steep angle and then levels out for about 25 feet. A laser timer at the finishing line provides immediate times & placement which show on 3 large screens. Each car runs on each lane and the winners are calculated by averaging all 6 times. Chairs were placed around the track with short, decorative parking meters delineating “the pit”. Contestants pay $5 to enter and everyone gets free hot dogs, chips and pop for lunch. We didn’t stay for the entire race but saw Dennis’ car in several heats.
We had a bit of down time before going to Good Life to join Rick & Pat and Don & Joanne for happy hour(s). It was hot today but Don & Joanne’s site had some shade from a neighbor and from the sun shade attached to their awning so we could sit outside. We left about 7 and went to TGI Friday for a nice dinner. We had a gift certificate for quite a while and decided this was a good time to use it.

Mar 25th – Sun
After lazing around with coffee & a couple of leftover cinnamon rolls, I got a burst of energy and did some cleaning. At 11 we drove out to join Ernie & Dianne and their friends Floyd & Diana at Filly’s. We enjoyed cold beer, tender chicken strips, music, dancing and good friends. It was hot but we had an umbrella to shade at least our heads.
We stopped for a few groceries on the way back and then joined Ron & Terri for a drink and to meet a golfing friend of theirs. Our back yard neighbor Olivia beckoned me over and gave us jello shots in syringes!
This morning we got a phone call from Ron & Diane who we met in Desert Hot Springs. They are staying here and wanted to get together so we settled on 4 this afternoon. A few minutes before 4 Ron called again and said they were listening to karaoke in the courtyard asked if we could join them there for a while.
When the music ended shortly after 5, we invited them over for BBQ hamburgers for dinner. It was just getting dark when we finished eating so out came the buddy burner and bucket light. A neighbor down the street – Alice - who we hadn’t met yet came in to see the buddy burner close up. She was followed shortly by her husband Warren so we pulled more chairs into the circle for them and Ron & Terri.

Mar 26th – Mon
After a lazy morning we decided to go to a casino. At Lone Butte casino we actually both had good luck on the same visit and came out $100 ahead.
We were supposed to go to Larry & Julie’s for dinner today but Julie was sick so we invited Ron & Terri over for a salmon dinner that we had been promising to make. We were having a drink before dinner when Ernie & Dianne and Floyd & Diana stopped by for a visit. After dinner we showed Ron & Terri pictures & videos from Maui and then we all watched most of Dancing With the Stars.