Sept 26th to 28th - Mesa

Sept 26^th – Fri – Mesa

After a mostly lazy morning – catching up the blog does not count as lazy! - I finally made a very late breakfast. Then we returned the external wifi to Best Buy as our new computer is working so much better. We stopped at Frys on the way back to get some chicken for lunch tomorrow when we float the river. Howard stopped by to borrow our air pump as they bought float tubes for tomorrow.

We went to music in the ballroom at 3. When the band – Wild Rose - started to play they counted 22 people attending but a lot more arrived shortly after. The music was good for listening and for dancing (for us!). A couple of electric slides got a lot of dancers on the floor.

We just got back when Joe stopped by to use our printer. Unfortunately the “wifi” printer didn't show up and we ended up having to connect it with a cable and reinstall it. That meant we had to dig through too much stuff in a couple of baskets – first Terry unsuccessfully and then I found what we needed in the place he had just looked! But he did remember where the installation disk was stored!

Jerry & Becky called to say they were going to the hot tub so we joined them there just after 7:30. We kind of missed dinner so we had pie & ice cream when we got back.

Nasty weather is predicted for tomorrow so we and Jerry & Becky made an executive decision to move the float trip to Sunday. We each notified some of the people and unfortunately some can't make it on Sunday.

Sept 27^th – Sat

Jerry called at 9 to see if we wanted to go to breakfast with them. We weren't dressed yet but we said we would be ready in 20 minutes and they picked us up. We went to Red Mountain Cafe for a good breakfast. Then we went to the Mesa Marketplace for the first time this season. Two rows are fully open, the third one has lots of vendors and there are a few open stalls in the 4^th row. Of course we had to walk it all. We stopped at Culver's on the way back for frozen custard which is rich ice cream.

We saw that Bruce & Ann had arrived so we walked over to welcome them. They were just getting ready to have a very late lunch so we left them to eat and then come to visit us. A HUGE storm changed those plans as each time the rain & wind let up a bit and they were going to walk over, it would start in earnest again. Ann finally called to say that Bruce was “very relaxed” and they were just going to stay home and rest.

This is the tail end of monsoon season and it is going out with a bang! We had to hustle to get our awning up, chairs folded and small tables & float tubes tucked under the rig. There were lots of pictures on the local news of storm damage.

Sept 28^th – Sun

Jerry and Chief called to cancel this morning so our reduced group of 6 – us, Howard & Gina, Larry and Charlie left at 8:30 for the float trip. Unfortunately, 6 miles from our destination, the road was closed and we had to scrap the float trip for today.

We talked to Howard & Gina about playing golf instead so they rode their bikes over after they unloaded their truck. In the meantime I had called Desert Sands golf course and found that they were closed for over seeding until Oct 10^th. So we ended up going to the casino!

Howard & Gina had purchased the “$50 slot play for $25” coupons at Ft. McDowell casino. We introduced them to slots that we like and we all went out separate ways for a while. We met up to have lunch and then gambled some more.

When we got back, we joined them at the pool and found Larry & Julie and Bruce & Ann already there. Dinner was quite easy as I heated up the chicken strips that we were going to eat for lunch on the river.