Jan 5th to 7th - Mesa

Jan 5^th – Sat

We went golfing this morning with Moe & Trish, Bob & Darlene, Brad & Clare, Bruce & Ann and Ron.  Terri was feeling under the weather with a cold and figured golf would not be good.  There was a frost delay of over an hour so we didn’t finish our game until 1:30.  By the time we all went to Red Robin for lunch it was after 3 when we got back.

We rode our bikes to get an update on Julie but we didn’t find Larry even though his car & golf cart were home.  We figured he was having a shower at the pool area which he normally does.  We joined Bob & Darlene at Moe & Trish’s for dinner that they put in the crock pot before golfing.  We didn’t think we would be eating lunch so late but couldn’t push dinner back too much as we all had dance tickets.

The band – Johnny K and Kompany – were good but played rock & roll & big band type music which isn’t as good for us for dancing.  Others really enjoyed it as the dance floor was almost always filled.  They played a couple of songs for the electric slide line dance and then the floor was really full.  There was a new couple who were beautiful, flashy dancers (she is a dance instructor) and we enjoyed watching them and wishing we could dance half as well.

Moe & Trish, Bob & Darlene and Chuck & Echo came back to our place for a nightcap so it was a later night than usual.

 Jan 6^th – Sun

I made dinner invitations for next Saturday on the computer and had Trish OK a sample before printing them on index cards.  We rode our bikes to deliver some of the invitations and to figure out who is bringing what.  We ended up chatting with Ernie & Dianne and saying goodbye to Annette, Mike & Kayah who are leaving this evening for the great white north (Dawson Creek, B.C.).

Just before 2 we changed into our “tropical” shirts and went to Bruce & Ann’s for a tiki party.  Bruce made wonderful mai tais and Ann put together a great table of snacks – with some help from Bruce!  Brad provided the tiki lighting ceremony! Clouds from the morning had moved away so it was great to sit in the sun with a large group of friends.  Shortly before the gathering broke up, Rick & Vi (friends from last year) backed into the site beside Dennis & Gloria.

We had an early dinner so Terry could BBQ steaks in the daylight.  We went to Larry & Julie’s and found Julie home from the hospital.  We had been told that she had pneumonia but apparently that was not the case.  She is on oxygen and will be for some time so she will now have to quit smoking.  We didn’t stay too long as we figured they both needed to rest.

Jan 7^th- Mon

We went to the activity center to reserve a “party wagon” to provide chairs & tables for Saturday and then browsed through the Country Store in the ballroom and outside.  It was sunny and cool but by the time we had breakfast and stood outside chatting with others on our street, I was ready to change into capris to play golf.

A group of 11 – us, Trish, Bob & Darlene, Brad, Ron, Ernie & Dianne and Doug & Shirley – played golf at Dreamland which is a 9 hole executive course.  Moe & Terri have not been feeling well and Clare had to wait for a technician to examine their trailer axles.  Terry, Ron, Brad & Bob played with 2 clubs & a putter but the rest of us decided we needed all the help we could get, took all our clubs and probably used 4 clubs and a putter!  Our first tee time was 11:37 and play was REALLY slow – it took us nearly 2 hours to play the first 5 holes.  There was a group of 5 in front of our first group and a group of 6 before the fivesome!  It cooled down and Trish & Dianne were happy to make use of the 2 light jackets that I had in my bag.

All but Ron went to Fat Willy’s for their Monday $5 hamburgers for lunch.  Ron & Terri joined us for a beverage.  It took a while to get our meals so there wasn’t much of the day left when we got back.

We greeted a new couple on our street – Dennis & Ginger – and then walked to Larry & Suz’s to deliver dance tickets that we bought for them.  They just got back from Colorado today so we talked with them a bit and then went to Larry & Norma’s where we caught them eating dinner.  They poured us a drink and we chatted while they finished eating.  They had dance tickets for Saturday that they couldn’t use so we bought them and sold them to Brad & Clare.  Moe figured Terry should get into the ticket scalping business!

At 7 we went to line dance lessons.  We don’t normally go on Monday but Ron & Ria were going to teach a dance called the Clogger.  There was a huge group already learning the electric slide when we arrived.  The usual teacher – Margaret – was not there so Jim was teaching and having problems with some brand new dancers.  The Clogger is very fast with quick turns so some people sat out and I even quit for a while as the large group going in every direction was irritating me!!  Terry was determined to learn and hung in there!

Moe & Trish came back with us for a nightcap.