Head em up! Move em out!

Today we left the Mesa and the Apache Junction area after 6 weeks at three different parks. The area is a really nice area; Sally and I both enjoyed it. We're now about 12 miles south of Sedona, and 45 miles south of Flagstaff.  We'll spend two weeks here at Verde Valley RV park and then head further north to Monument Vally.

Since our last post, we've attended another DiamondBack's Baseball game,  got our annual physicals, and then had some additional appointments, based on the results from our physicals. I ended up finding out that I'm pre-diabetic, and had a small spot on the top of my head that had to be frozen off. With being pre-diabetic, I had an appointment with a dietitian. I got a free glucose meter out of the deal. For the most part,  I only have to switch to diet pop.  I've switched to diet Dr. Pepper from Coke; which hasn't been as bad as I thought it was going to be!

Also during that period Sally went to Arkansas to help with my mom, who had Cataract surgery.  She flew out on Saturday the 21st and came back to Mesa on the 25th. It was a little cooler in Arkansas than Arizona!

We also had two attempts to finally get a recall notice performed on the motorhome.  I had made an appointment at one of the Ford dealers two weeks ahead of the appointment. A week before the appointment, I went to the dealer just to know how to get there, and make sure everything was scheduled to perform the work. I also had an oil change on the rig,since we'd put about 3000 miles on it. I ended up waiting two hours to only get the oil change accomplished! They hadn't ordered the kit to perform the recall. So, I waited until Sally returned from Arkansas; went back after they had received the kit, and they finally completed it. Today driving up here, I had the cruise control drop out twice, as I was climbing the mountains. It has never done that before, and I've climbed some mountains already with the rig? Will have to call the Ford dealer and see if they some ideas?

On Saturday, we drove down and toured Old Tucson. It was interesting but confusing. Being the old TV western fan that I am; I was really looking forward to seeing where many of those old programs and movies had been filmed.  We took several pictures; then tried to figure out where some of the scenes had been filmed after watching some of the movies when we got home.  It turns out that most of the town burnt down in 1995 and they rebuilt it. So, It's not really the same as the original town. Now, it's primarily a tourist trap, rather than a studio for filming, like before.

This Weeks Trivia Questions

1. What was John Wayne's character name in the 1959 Movie "Rio Bravo"?
1. Dude
2. John T Chance
3. Cole Thornton
4. Duke
2. In what year did the TV show The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet come out?
1. 1960
2. 1959
3. 1952
4. 1957
3. Who were the two characters who supported Captain Kangaroo on his kids TV program?
1. The Dancing Bear & Mr. Levis
2. Mr. Moose & Dancing Bear
3. Mr. Green Jeans & Mr. Lion
4. Mr. Moose & Mr. Lion
4.  In what year did the TV program "Adam 12" start?
1. 1985
2. 1972
3. 1968
4. 1966
5. What was the name of the police TV show that starred Jack Webb and Henry Morgan?
1. The Streets of San Francisco
2. Mod Squad
3. Police Squad
4. Dragnet
6. In 1964 the FCC ruled that all TV receivers had to be equipped to_____________?
1. Receive color transmissions
2. Receive both UHF and VHF channels
3. Provide closed captioning
4. Receive Digital Signals
7. In what year was the final episode of "The Cosby Show"?
1. 1990
2. 1989
3. 1992
4. 1994
8. Who starred in the underwater marine show "Sea Hunt"?
1. James Garner
2. Lloyd Bridges
3. Mike Nelson
4. Dan Blocker
9. Who played the role of Major Burns in the 1970 hit "Mash"?
1. Donald Sutherland
2. Alan Alda
3. Elliott Gould
4. Robert Duvall
10. What radio station did Ronald Reagan first work for?
1. WHO _ Des Moines Iowa
2. WABC - New York City
3. WLS - Chicago
4. KOA - Denver

I'm tired and going to bed!!

It's Starting To Warm Up In Mesa

Well, it's been more than a week since our last blog. I guess we're either getting behind, or nothing exciting has happened.  As the title says; it's starting to get warm here. This weekend we should see 100 degrees. Time to start planning on heading north at the end of the month.

Last Monday, the 9th, we had dinner will Glen and Carol Sue Dare here in Apache Junction. They are returning to Iowa on the 18th. We had a nice visit and Glen and I quizzed each other on trivia for the old TV westerns (*they will test your knowledge/memory later on in the blog!). We're both western fans. And then we ran into them at Wal-Mart on Friday the 13th! Decided to get together for supper that evening in Gold Canyon. You guys have a beautiful home! Glad we were able to spend time together! Thanks for having us! Safe travels!

Sally & Carol Sue (First Cousins)

 Planting (some) roots in Arizona:

We decided to get our annual physicals here in Mesa, rather than fly back to Maine to visit our old family doctor. (maybe next summer, when the ship is launched! Fingers crossed!). Blood work has been done and our physicals are this Thursday.


Flea Market

Mesa Flea Market

Mesa has a huge flea market on the weekends. The market is a series of four long covered areas that stretch about two blocks long. This time of year most of the snow birds have left and so it's not quite as crowded as earlier in the spring. Sally and I split up after arriving and went our separate ways to find bargains. I found a set of autofocus Bushnell binoculars. Should be handy for sightseeing and baseball games. I just couldn't pass up the shamu chamois 6 for $4.00. Two braided stretch belts, and a Gilligan hat. We spent about an hour and a half; I got through all four buildings, Sally only made it through the first building. Just before leaving, Sally spotted some small cactus arrangements. We purchased two little kits, which I had to plant after we got home. I've watered them, and they haven't grown a bit in the last two days. Don't know what I did wrong?

Cactus Exploring

For some reason I've become somewhat fascinated by the different species of Cacti in the area. Of course after the flee market purchase, we decided to venture out to the area where Glen and Carol Sue lived to take some pictures of the different species we'd noticed. I've tried to do some research on the different types, but I keep finding conflicting names, pictures, and information?

Seguaro Cactus

Prickly Pear Cactus

Barrel Cactus

Another Barrel Cactus

Cylindropuntia Whipplei

Cylindropuntia Bigelovii 

Cylindropuntia Whipplei

Cylindropuntia Cholla

 Parish Cholla

Rumor is that the tree cholla type was used by the mexicans who would cut branches off and throw them as weapons! Hate to get hit by one of those!!!! And of course the prickly pear are used to make cosmetics, and jam/jellies.

So that's my cactus picture collection; bottom line is there are a lot of types, sizes, and all are scary to think about falling into!

Monday 16 April

Yesterday I got up early and we packed up the rig; pulled in the slides, and raised the levelers; it was time to head to the Ford dealer to have a recall notice taken care of, and our first oil change.  This had all been scheduled two weeks ago with the dealer. In addition, last week Sally and I drove over to the dealer to see where it was at and find out how long it would take. Well, I got to the dealer, sat there for two hours and the service manager came out and say your good to go! The he asked how long we were going to be in the area? I said another two weeks. "He said good; we didn't perform the recall service, we didn't have the parts to perform the job".  I bit my tongue; he said it would be a couple of days to get the parts and he'd give me a call.  He called today, and left a voice mail saying they'd received the parts, and ready to install them! 

Monday Night

D'Backs Baseball Game (Arizona vs Pittsburgh)

Another nice evening for a baseball game at Chase Field!      D'Backs 5  -  Pirates 1

Homerun # 3

Sally will be flying to Arkansas this Saturday, to help with my mother, who will have cataract surgery on Monday next week. So I'll be on my own, unsupervised; but on my best behavior! She'll return on next Wednesday.

New Feature

Classic TV & Movie Trivia

1. Who played the "Ramrod" in the classic TV western Rawhide?

1. Eric Fleming
2. Sheb Wooley
3. Paul Bringar
4. Clint Eastwood

2. Who played the two lead parts in the TV classic "The Deputy"?

1. Henry Fonda & Roy Rogers
2. Bob Hope & Bing Crosby
3. Allan Case & Henry Fonda
4. Laverne & Shirley

3.  How old is James Darren and could he really Surf?

1. 82 & Yes
2. 72 & Yes
3. 75 & No
4. 75 & Yes

4. Who played the role of "Jim" in the 1955 TV classic "Fury"?

1. James Arness
2. Peter Graves
3. Bobby Diamond
4. Dennis Weaver

5.  In the 1971 TV series "Alias Smith and Jones", who played the role of Hannibal Heyes?

1. Ben Murphy
2. Geoffrey Duel
3. Roger Moore
4. Pete Duel

6.  In the 1972 TV series "Streets Of San Francisco", who played the role of LT. Mike Stone?

1. Michael Douglas
2. Karl Malden
3. Ruben Collins
4. Broderick Crawford

7.  In the 1960 TV show "Coronado 9", Rod Cameron plays the role of a ___________?

1. Medical Surgeon
2. Community Organizer
3. Lawyer
4. Private Detective

8.  In the 1961 TV classic "The Dick Van Dyke Show" in which town did Rob and Laura Live?

1. Los Angeles, CA
2. New Rochelle, NY
3. Cincinnati, OH
4. Boston, MA

9.  Who created the 1968 TV show "Adam 12"?

1. Jack Webb
2. Dan Rather
3. Roger Ebert
4. Aaron Spelling

10. In the 1972 TV show "The Bob Newhart Show", Bob played the role of a __________?

1. Sports Announcer
2. Psychologist
3. Physical Therapist
4. Hotel Owner/Operator

Bonus Question!

What was Trigger's Horse's name in the TV western Roy Rogers?

*The Answers can be found on our new website. I still working on the website, which is still needs to be organization and tweaks. But from now on, you can go to the website to get to the blog also!

Website:   happylifetrails.com

Another Week In Mesa Arizona

Well, we've spent another week here in Mesa. We're at a different park, as of last Sunday. We'll be here at Carefree Manor RV Park until the 16th of the month. On the 16th when we leave, we need to take to rig to the local Ford dealer for service, and addressing a recall notice for resolving an issue with the steering column indicator.  The service should only take about half the day hopefully; then not sure if we'll remain in this area, or start heading north to the Cotttonwood area.
Lots of people from the Pacific Northwest in this park; none of them are ready to head back to the rain & gloom back home!

Lake Saguaro Cruise

One afternoon (can't remember which one?), we drove up to Lake Saguaro, which was about 30 miles northeast of Apache Junction.  We took a boat cruise on the lake; 90 minutes long (60 minutes minus the captain's 'jokes' would have sufficed!). His jokes were even worse than BHO's; (You know the guy in the White House). Nonetheless, it was a a pleasant cruise. Plan ahead tho', as they do get busy! Had a nice lunch overlooking the lake.  The trip up was a great opportunity to see hundreds of Saguaro Cacti. They're a protected species and can live 250 years. They grow about 1" a year.

Lake Saguaro

Saguaro Cacti Everywhere!

Organ Stop Pizza

On Monday night we ventured out to a pizza house called Organ Stop Pizza. Sally's cousins had told us about it and to get there early! They were right about the arrive there early.  It was the most interesting pizza place we've ever encountered. I think there are a couple more of these pizza places around the country. They claim to have the worlds largest Wurlitzer organ. But it doesn't stop will just the organ itself. The eating area is two levels high; and rooms above full of organ pipes and other instruments. You can do requests from the organist, who was exceptionally talented. Just seems to help the pizza taste even a little better! It was a good time; but if you're in the area, arrive early!

A Regular Liberace

Take Us Out to the Ball Game

On Tuesday night we attended a pre-season baseball game at the Diamondbacks 'real' home - Chase Stadium - in Phoenix. It wasn't too crowded; we had really good seats; really enjoyed the venue! The game was between the Milwaukee Brewers & the Arizona Diamondbacks; it was a night game.  Really a nice new stadium, with retractable roof. The D'backs weren't fairing too well; behind 2 runs by the 'take me out to the ballgame' breather. Sally and I decided they probably didn't stand a chance of winning and left to go home.  But, noooooo, by the time we got home, the D'backs found some pitching (& hitters), and won the game 5-3! (by-the-way, the D'backs won their home-opener today, over the SF Giants - Woo-hoo!).

Lake Roosevelt

We did make another attempt in visiting Lake Roosevelt on Wednesday. Driving through some pretty mountains up to Globe, AZ, we finally found the lake (& dam). As dams go, it was just 'ok'. To get a good picture, we had to stick our camera through the gated fence in order to even get a picture!

I think this lake was named after Teddy; not Frank - Damn Bully Lake!

Damn Bully Dam!

Mall travel:

Yes, I ventured out on the freeways again today...decided to check-out 'Fashion Square' in Scottsdale. Not exactly the easiest place to drive to, but, all roads do eventually lead to a mall :) Lots of stores; lots of Easter shoppers; lots of (really nice!) purses ($$$); and some much-needed therapy @ the cosmetic
counter!

Refridge Doors

While Sally was off ensuring the local Mall economy remains viable; I was finishing up changing the front door panels on our refrigerator. The doors were black plastic, that were next to impossible to keep clean and looking nice. I had finally had it, and decided that a trip to Home Depot to purchase some Luan panels would solve my frustration. I cut, stained, and finished the two doors yesterday. This morning was time to tackle the installation. As I started to remove the lower door hinge; I noticed the hinge plate had a screw coming in from the side. The side that I didn't have access too! So then I had to figure out how to get the fridge out of the cabinet by at least an inch to remove the screws for each of the two hinges. After I finally got the screws out, the door just fell off! Literally! A few swear words; and little assistance from the bride; I was able to install the first panel.  Got it all back together and put a washer on the wrong hinge pin! So take out all the screws that hold the fridge into the cabinet to be able to put it out again; that was the second time the door fell off! By this time, the bride was shaking her head repeatedly! Probably a good time for the boss to go shopping!

See; aren't the black ones crappy looking?

Finished Product!

Well, now you know why we've been tardy to the blog party! As you can tell, we're keeping pretty busy doing the retirement thing, and being love birds of course! I'm also in the process of developing a web page; this blog will be tied to it eventually. The web page will allow us to create some photo and video albums, and other enhancements. I'm using a new web page development tool, so it's taking me a little time to get up to speed!


As always, we enjoy your support and any comments. We love to get comments!


Dave & Sally