HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO PAUL

Monday, March 26 – We pulled into Mesa, AZ, this morning after a short 60 minute drive from Goodyear, AZ. Saw plenty of RVs on I-10 that pulled out of the Good Sam Rally down at the Speedway.

Our first campground stop was Silver Spur which proved to be very disappointing. Someone recommended this place via the internet, and it wasn't up to our liking. So we pulled over to a shopping plaza and got on the internet to find an alternative.

BINGO!!! We found a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow....Val Vista Village. They call this an age qualified community....haha.  This is one of those “got everything imaginable” resort type Arizona Snowbird parks. Definitely, not what we're use to! We see 982 sites on the map. It offers 50% off a week's stay with our Passport America discount. Works out to about $20/day. For you people who are considering PPA, we just saved more at this one place than we paid for the entire membership. GREAT!!

Site 622. Plenty of room on the concert pad for parking and sunning.

Yes, that is a grapefruit tree. There is fruit, and it is ready to be eaten…by us!

Looking right of our site.

Other way.

One of the two halls. They are huge.

The pool room is super.

We have never been to a park with a library with a fireplace and sitting area.

Most places we stay don't have a "card room." This place has two rooms.

This one is for poker only.

This sign is on the poker room door.  Cracked Marsha up.

This one for all other card games. Notice the difference in the chairs from the poker room. Interesting.

What would an "age qualified" park be without a sports room.

There are three big screen TVs in the room.

Yes, stadium seating for are "age qualified" behinds.

Even though the door was locked, Paul wanted to see what the woodworking room looked like. We could only get a picture through the window, but it looks really nice.

They have a very nice outdoor patio with entrainment every day from 3-5. We thought we would take in some of the fun. Cocktails are priced just right….$2 for a margarita and $5 for a pitcher of beer. All frozen drinks are only $3. Our kind of place.

Bar…pretty popular place.

Restaurant inside and out.

We have a full list of things to do and see on this East side of Phoenix. Stop back and check it out!


Tuesday, March 27  - HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAUL. Not sure what is in store for him today. He gets to pick everything we do…WOW what a treat.

Thanks to everyone who left a comment or email concerned about Marsha's back. Actually, yesterday she said it felt the best it has in a loooooong time. She actually had a good night's sleep free from the pain medication and muscle relaxer. She is looking forward to getting into one of the hot tubs this week.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

 

RVS, JETS, AND BASEBALL

Friday, March 23 – We had a good time today attending the Good Sam Rally. We are not Good Sam members. We went to the show on a Day Pass – two for the price on one - $10. Pretty good deal. We met one of our friends, Kenny Smith, and spent some time strolling through the show with him.

We began by roaming through the RV Show looking at new motor homes. Once again, we didn't see too many we liked more than our 2005 Tiffin Phaeton. We did talk to Bob Tiffin, owner of Tiffin Motor Homes, telling him how much we enjoy our motor home, and the great service we are still getting seven years after the sale. He says they have no reason to change this great service – we can only hope!!!

We looked at some 5^th wheels too. We always wonder about living in a 5^th wheel. They are so roomy! We will certainly give it further consideration once we slow down and travel less. With the way we travel now, we certainly love having our Honda CRV “toad” to drive around and do our sight seeing. When we become more like winter Snowbirds, a 5^th wheel may be more attractive to us.

Wow! The vendors tent is HUGE! We think it is larger than the Main Event Tent at Quartzsite. Although, as Paul said, it may be the same tent that was erected in Q. Just about anything you want for RV'ing was available.

Will Paul and Kenny buy or won't they?

They didn't.

As a matter of fact, I bet many of these same vendors were in Q this past January. We did find a couple items to purchase and quite a few we passed on.

What the heck is a monkey doing at a Rally?

After about four and a half hours, we decided we had enough and headed for home. We enjoyed our visit to the Phoenix International Race Track and the Good Sam Rally.

On the way home we saw tons of planes in the air. The Luke Air Force Base, the largest fighter-training base in the world, is located right outside Goodyear.

Amazing how low they fly over the road.

Flying away.

Right over head.

Sunday, March 25 - We went to see the Cleveland Indians play the Chicago Cubs today. Our friends, Jane and Joe, were attending the Rally and wanted to attend the game with us.

We came to watch the game, but Jane and the gang came to eat.

Jane is going to kill Marsha for putting that picture up.

Well, to make a long story short, remember this guy, Marsha's least favorite player, Rafael Perez.

They put him in at the top of the 6th inning….6 hits (including a homerun) and 3 runs later, we found ourselves on the losing end of a 6-2 game. Oh my….Marsha isn't in a very good mood.

At the end of the game, the kids got to run the bases. There must have been a thousand parents and kids standing in line to go out on the field. They had to let them go out in groups there were so many.

Last week of Spring Training. We will leave you with five more of our favorite Yogi sayings.

--As a general comment on baseball: “90% of the game is half mental.”

--“I don’t know (if they were men or women running naked across the field). They had bags over their heads.”

--“It gets late early out there.”

--“Yogi, you are from St. Louis , we live in New Jersey , and you played ball in New York . If you go before I do, where would you like me to have you buried?” -Carmen Berra, Yogi’s wife.
“Surprise me.” – Yogi

Bet you didn't know that it was Yogi Berra who came up with this one….
--“It ain’t over till it’s over.”

We are moving Monday morning to the East side of Phoenix…Mesa. There is lots to do and see on that side. Marsha's back isn't much better. We think it is time for her to see someone. Let you know how that goes.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

ANOTHER GREAT DAY AT THE BALLPARK

Wednesday, March 21 – This weather just keeps getting better and better. We bought tickets for today's game last week. With Marsha's back problem, we weren't sure if we should go, but she said…We are going…back or no back!

It was a beautiful day for baseball. The Cleveland was playing San Francisco.

The Berm seats are only $8.

Look who Marsha found in the crowd.

This is Marsha's least favorite player, Rafael Perez. She about freaked out when they announced he was coming in as relief pitcher. "He did OK," was all the credit Marsha would give the poor guy.

Marsha got up and stretched each inning and did some walking around between innings. Even though we lost, 5-3, it was another great time at the "old" ball park.

For all you baseball fans, here is just a few more special saying by Yogi Berra

--On why he no longer went to Ruggeri’s, a St. Louis restaurant:
     “Nobody goes there anymore because it’s too crowded.”
--“I always thought that record would stand until it was broken.”
--“We have deep depth.”
-- “All pitchers are liars or crybabies.”
--When giving directions to Joe Garagiola to his New Jersey home,
      which is accessible by two routes:
      “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

A little bit about out surroundings. We love looking at the mountains. Buckeye sits in the foothills of the White Tank Mountains. The highest point in the range, at an altitude of 4,083 feet is Barry Goldwater Peak.

A quiet day on the mountain range.

Forgot to post this rainbow picture. We took it on Saturday when we had the terrible storm. Just another beautiful scene.

Are you watching the NCAA Basketball playoffs? Our Buckeyes are in the Final 8. Go BUCKEYES!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great time.