The semi-annual migration of the Snowbirds heading North is in full
swing and we'll be joining soon. We're staying here a little longer
his year. We decided that there wasn't any reason to head North early
just to sit through the April snow storms. Instead, we've opted to
enjoy one of the nicest times of the year in Arizona. Our weather has
been in the 70's most of the time, with a few 80's thrown in, when we've
needed to run the air conditioner. The prickly pair, cholla, and
hedgehog cacti are all covered with buds. Hopefully they'll start
blooming while we're still here. It should be quite a sight with the
wet spring we've had. Our "backyard" (aka desert over the 3 1/2 foot
wall behind our rig) was covered with purple flowers a couple weeks
ago. It was so green, it looked like it needed to be mowed. That's
changing as it warms up.
It's been a fun Winter. Gary has
enjoyed not working and got used to it real fast. He played a lot of
billiards, between the clubhouse here, the Senior Center in town, the
league he was on, and local tournaments. After placing 3rd, 3 times, he
was tickled to win one of the local tournaments Easter week. Of course
he's played golf, but not as much with the course across the road from
us being closed this winter. We've heard it may be in escrow, so hopes
are high it will reopen next year.
I've been very busy with
quilting. I enjoyed 3 days at Quilt Camp, just north of Tuscon, on the
way to Mt. Lemon. Landscapes were a new experience for me and after
taking a challenging workshop with thread painting and bobbin work, I
completed three of them. I also did a totem pole that was very
different from anything I'd done before. I joined the ladies here at
the park in a few beading projects and made a couple new bracelets that
were fun. I also learned redwork embroidery this winter. There's
always so much too do and despite not working, it seems there's never
enough time. The park started a book club this winter. We were a
little late in the year getting it off the ground, but are looking
forward to next year.
We also enjoyed our geocaching
experiences and are now up to 944 caches found. We may hit that 1,000
mark by September after all. We really enjoyed the Geocaching BOF rally
in Quartzsite and met a lot of new cachers. Five couples from our park also attended a fun caching event in Florence.
Dancing also played more of a role in this winter's activities. We
enjoyed some good bands and fun dances at a local RV park, about 10
miles from us. We plan on continuing that next year and hope to get
more couples from our park involved.
Healthwise, we're doing
good. I had a brief scare, with 3 skin biopsies, but other than keeping
an eye on one of them, everything was good. Gary started out with a
hearing test at a local health fair, that turned into a three week
period of ear drops (which really hampered his hearing), until they got
everything cleaned out. Other than a slight loss of hearing, we already
were aware of, he's doing fine.
Our last couple weeks were sure
different plan we planned on, when a good friend of Gary's had a
cardiac cath and then bypass surgery. Unfortunately, his wife has
severe MS, so between driving and being there to assist her, while he
couldn't do any lifting, driving, etc., we spent most of the time at
their house in Casa Grande.
We were glad to be able to help, but having left most of our packing
and organizing for the last couple weeks, we had to take turns getting
things ready with someone staying at their house. It made for some
interesting days and nights.
We'll be leaving here on Sunday, April 25th and heading toward Monument Valley
for a couple days. Then we'll meet Gary's sister, Pam and her husband
Jim, for a few days at Goblin Valley, UT. This is always a fun spot,
with lots to see and do. We plan on going through Orem, UT
on May 3rd to pick up our company truck and supplies, and then on to
Evanston, WY. If the weather allows, we'll be out to the forest the
next week to start cleaning up. Forest crews have removed more trees,
so we understand there's a lot to do.
We'll be at Stillwater Campground, site #4 again, located on Hiway 150, between Kamas Ut, and Evanston, WY,
between mile markers 45 & 46. A reminder that we don't get good
cell phone reception there, but do check our messages almost daily.
Please leave a message if you're coming in our direction, so we can make
sure to be there. (At least 1-2 times a week, we're gone for the
day.) The easiest way to get to us is to take I-80 to Evanston, WY and
then Hiway 150 32 miles south from there. The road "over the top" from Kamas, UT
usually opens up around mid-June. Our campgrounds do not have hook
ups, so arrive with full water tanks and empty holding tanks. There is a
dump station nearby and once the water is on, you can refill your
tanks. Prices in our campground this year will be $16.00/night, half
price with a Senior Access Pass. We love to have friends drop by, so
let us know if you're in our area.
Please don't mail anything
to us at our Casa Grande address after April 15th. Please use our
daughter's address from now until the 1st of September, (401 Twin Ridge
Ave. Evanston, WY 82930) Of course our S. Dakota address always works, but only gets forwarded to us once a month.
Dancing north with the snowbirds............................
Hugs, Katy Gary, Rusty, and Spicy
