Grandson's Wedding-July 2012

 
June 2012:This month was a laid back, rest month.  We did, however, do some letterboxing and went to a casino near Centrailia, WA with sister Jodene to see Randy Travis in concert. We also went to our Sauvie Island Yacht Club picnic at Blue Lake Park.  It was a month of see friends, and family.  Molly wanted to be close to daughter Jeanette this summer because grandson Travis was getting married and she wanted to help if needed.

July 2012:

BBQ with Hanson's & Berry's

Tom and Sue Stose brought their RV over to our park for the Fourth of July and we had a great BBQ on our lawn.  Sister Jodene then arranged a visit with our Uncle Harold (we always call him Uncle Book…long story) in Coquille.  It was really great seeing him as he is in his late 90’s, and cousins Roy and Ruby.  We had another surprise BBQ with a fellow letterboxers (Howard and Linda) that we met in Mesa but lives in Hillsboro.  He is a good friend with Rich and Kathy Berry, who I used to work with and hadn’t seen for many years.  Howard arranged the BBQ without informing telling Rich and Kathy who the surprise guests were.  We had a great time reminiscing.



Meghan,  Travis, and Tika

The big event this month, however, was our grandson’s wedding.  It was a beautiful sunny day in the mountains around Sandy where they live, with Mt. Hood in the background.  Meaghan and Travis were just a perfect couple and made the rounds of all the guests.  The only thing that was of concern was that WE AREN’T OLD ENOUGH TO HAVE A 25 YEAR OLD GRANDSON GETTING MARRIED!!!

Letterboxers, South Jetty

We ended the month by taking a little mini-vacation to the Long Beach peninsula to visit friends Pat and Susan Caniff and Nancy and Herman Ford who were also visiting and Tom and Sue Stose also came down for a night.  With all these letterboxers present, most of the weekend was spent finding letterboxes.  One group of 8 letterboxes was on a 1.5-mile hike and was carved by one of our favorite carvers, Stormrider.  The whole theme was of pirates and the carved stamps were in such detail they should be considered a work of art.  While letterboxing on the South Jetty of the Columbia River, we surprised a group of four lady letterboxers that we had corresponded with several times.  It was nice putting a face to the correspondents, and we had a good time comparing notes.

Grand Canyon Crossing Hike

May 2012

Dee Dee & Lorraine

After several months hiking every hill or mountain I could find in the Phoenix/Mesa area, it was time to leave Apache Wells and head for the Grand Canyon on our way home.  At the last minute I was able to get a bunk at Phantom Ranch, after a year of trying, so now I could just make two day-hikes down and out the next day.  Molly drove us around to the North Rim the night before and after dropping me off at the trailhead, she returned to the RV at the South Rim.  Right after starting the hike I met two great ladies, Lorraine and Dee Dee, who were doing the same trip.  Although it wasn’t planned, we hike the entire trip together.  Come to find out, they were neighbors at another Cal-Am park only a couple miles from Apache Wells.

Coconino Overlook; North Kaibab Trail

The hike was long, but the major factor was the heat.  It was 102 degrees when we reached Phantom Ranch and they said it was over 130 in the sun that day.  We started out at an elevation of 8292’ at 8:45 am and were at Phantom ranch at 4:30 pm at an elevation of 2419’.  We all ate a great steak dinner and retired after a ranger talk that night. 

Crossing the Colorado River

Last tunnel, South Rim

Early the next morning, after breakfast, we hit the trail at 5:15 am.  We crossed the Colorado River on the Silver Bridge, walked along the river trail for several miles and then started climbing.  At 8:00 we stopped for lunch at Indian Garden.  At Three-Mile House, I called Molly who was at the trail over-look and could see me at the shelter waving.  After two hours I was at One-and-a-Half-Mile House, and I called Molly again to update her on my progress.  The ladies fell back at this point and at 1:50 pm I reached the last tunnel.  Molly had walked down and greeted me with a cool drink and took my picture.  It was then just a short hike to the trailhead at 6809’.  We waited for Lorraine and Dee Dee and had a cold drink waiting for them at the top too. 

Overview of North Kaibab and Bright Angel Trails

Molly and I stayed at the South Rim RV Park for another day and then headed back to Oregon via Las Vegas, Reno, Susanville to I-5 and then back to Troutdale.  We stayed the next several months at the Sandy Riverfront RV Park to be near family and friends.

Bluegrass-Hiking-Plays; Mar-Apr 2012

March 2012:

Lake Havasu Bluegrass Festival

This month started out with a trip to the Lake Havasu Bluegrass festival.  We stayed in a motel, but visited with Bud & Lisa while there and at the event.

Hiking the McDowell Sonoran Preserve

I followed up the Cruising Mexico slideshow this month with one of our Route 66 trip in the RV’s.  One reason I asked to do this was to encourage participation in a World Span Tour trip planned for a portion of Route 66.  And there was more hiking in the hills around the Mesa/Phoenix area to get in shape for the Grand Canyon crossing.

Ever since we returned to Apache Wells we’ve had afternoon parties by the pool almost every week.  This month was no exception with wine, beer, and a healthy dose of snacks.  These get-togethers really helped get to know the other residents and new comers to the park.  The weather was always great, and the entertainment provided encouraged us all to get up and dance.

April 2012:



Patsy Cline tribute at Broadway Palms

April was more of the same!  Party-party-party!  Entertainment this month included the play “Harvey” at the Hale Theater, “Doc Holiday” by Wyatt Earp at the Palace Saloon in Prescott, “Patsy Cline” at the Broadway Palm Theater, and the closing show at the Arizona Opry with guests Pat and Susan that were visiting in their RV and staying at Apache Wells.  While in Prescott, we also went to the renovated Elk’s Theater on the spur of the moment to watch a live tribute of the Rat Pack.  The rendition of Mr. Bojangles was one of the best tributes I’ve ever seen and brought tears to the eyes of the audience.

Hiking-Talent Show; Feb 2012

February 2012:

Molly started out the month by flying to Thousand Oaks to see Lynda and the grandkids.  She was gone for a week, which left me to myself to do some hiking and get letterboxes at the same time.  My hiking is in preparation for a Rim-to-Rim hike across the Grand Canyon in May…..one of those “Bucket List” things.

Camelback Mountain, Phoenix, AZ

We did manage to see a couple more plays and concerts this month by going to see Kenny G and the play “Me and My Gal”.  While Molly was away, I also went to see a National Geographic presentation at the Mesa Art Center called “Solo Around the World”.

Blue Moon by the Doo Wops

The biggest entertainment this month was the Apache Wells Talent Show!  That’s because I was in it doing a lip-sync with 5 other guys as the “Doo Wops”.  We did two songs, “Young Blood” and “Blue Moon”, and brought the house down with our antics, especially at the end of “Blue Moon” when we bent over and exposed our blue under-shorts (that's me on the far right!)

Bluegrass-Tuskegee Airmen; Dec2011-Jan2012

Not too much happened in December, so I will combine it with January 2012.

December 2011:



London Bridge, Lake Havasu

Not much happening this month except we went to Quartzsite to get update on our car GPS, but since the vender wasn’t there, we went to see Bud and Lisa in Lake Havasu.  We went back to Quartzsite later in the month to get the update.

This was the first Christmas at Apache Wells with the new managers Gregg and Valarie.  They made it a special event with champagne toasts and commemorative glasses for us all. 


January 2012:


Tuskegee Airmen



Blythe Bluegrass Festival

This was the month for the theater and entertainment.  We went to see “Brigadoon” at the Broadway Palm Dinner Theater, Christina and Alie (America’s Got Talent) in concert at a Cal-Am park, a tribute to the Tuskegee Airman at the Arizona Wing Aviation Museum, the Blythe Bluegrass Festival (where we dry camped in the desert in Quartzsite), the play “See How They Run” in the round at the Hale Theater which was new to us, a tribute to John Denver by Brad Fitch at the Arizona Opry, The Duttons at the Broadway Palm, and My Fair Lade at the Mesa Arts Center.  It was quite a month of entertainment.

Besides that we went to Tucson to visit some friends Cathy in her new place and Will and Joann.  We also had a few days to spare to go to Laughlin for two days on a World Span Tour bus with a group from Apache Wells.

I had been asked to make a presentation at an entertainment night at the Apache Wells Club House, so I put a slideshow together about our sailboat cruising in Mexico.  It seemed to be a hit.  Many that did not get to see it had heard about it and wanted another showing.

Plays-Letterboxing-3 day Koman walk; Nov 2011

Legally Blonde at Broadway Palm Theater

To start the month Molly and VikkiJo, the office manager went to see Legally Blonde at the Broadway Palm Dinner Theater on Molly's birthday.  They had a ball.  We have season tickets in the front row and VikkiJo had never been to the theater before.  I gave up my ticket to go to a season inaugural dinner for the World Span Tour guides, agents, and vendors.  I was considering becoming a tour quide for some of their trips, but they want someone almost full time and that's too much like a job!  It was great to see all the trips planned already for this season and pick up their brochures.

Blue Man Group

Then two days later, we got tickets to see The Blue Man Group who were coming to town and performing at the Gammage Theater at ASU.  We didn't get great tickets since it was a last minute thing, but most of it was pretty good.  We had seen them perform years ago in Las Vegas and thought it was about time to see them again.  They had much more electronic gimmickry in this show that took away from their normal humor and comical expressions.  You had to read some of the electronic material on three different screens and it was difficult reading that much, from so far away to be enjoyed.

Arizona Wing Museum, Falcon Field

Early this month I planted several more Letterboxes.  I called one series the "Lower Salt River Series" that I put in each of the recreation areas below Saguaro Lake.  The stamps I carved were all of camping related icons such as a tent, picnic table, camp fire, rafting, and RV/trailer camping.  The other letterbox was placed at the Arizona Wing Commemorative Air Force Museum over at Falcon Field next door.  I carved a stamp depicting the B-17 bomber that regularly flys out of the airport.  Needless to say, it took me awhile to carve, box, distribute, and document clues for the location of the Letterboxes.  I hope people enjoy them.

Mogollon Rim Letterboxing in Snow

Molly signed up for a quilting class just before the Payson Quilt Show with her friend and instructor from Salem, Karla Alexander.  Karla is also the instructor Molly went to Italy with last year.  Karla was really glad to see Molly in her class and let her work on whatever she wanted.  The class was on Karla's curve design templates and Molly learned a lot.  While she was in class, I had plotted out 9 Letterboxes to try to find from 20 miles east of Payson to Strawberry, 20 miles northwest of Payson.  I found all but one on top of Mogollon Rim in six inches of snow.  I'll try that one again in the spring!  The next day we both went to the quilt show and mostly just browsed, just getting a few items Molly needed.

Then it was off to San Diego to cheer Carrie and Mark in their 3-day, 60 mile Susan B. Koman walk for breast cancer.  But first we stopped in Yuma to visit Jim and Linda Newton, who I used to work with at ODFW.  They invited mutual friends over for a great ham dinner.  Of course we had to explain all about Letterboxing and even went out and found a few in their neighborhood.


Save Second Base Team

We left early the next day to get to San Diego and find a few more Letterboxes before Carrie and Mark hit the finish line.  The weather this year was much better than last year with only a small sprinkle on the second day.  Mark's family had great support for the "Save Second Base" team with lunch and dinner planned each day.  After the last leg, they opted out of the closing ceremonies, went back to their campground for a short bite and all then retired for the evening.  It was a long grueling walk and the last evening was starting to get a bit chilly with rain forecast, so the party ended early.  We headed home early the next day to get back to Apache Wells for our neighborhood's block party.  What a way to end a 5 day get-away.



Thanksgiving Dinner with friends

Letterboxing Lower Salt River

Friends Pat and Susan, and Nancy and Herman came to celebrate Thanksgiving with us.  Pat and Susan Caniff were on their way through to Texas to visit family in their RV and planned a 5-day stop here to see family, Letterbox, and have a great dinner.  Nancy and Herman Ford came up from Green Valley for 4 days.  We brought our RV over from storage so they could stay in it right next to us.  We had a great time Letterboxing finding all of my plants at the Air Museum, Lower Salt River, Saguaro Lake, and out in Apache Junction.  The Thanksgiving dinner was great with everybody contributing some dishes and we ate on those leftovers for several days.  It was a real nice visit, except for a concern for Herman.  He had developed some unusual feelings in his chest and throat, so we took him to the emergency room, but was tested out ok.  He will be checking in with his doctor in Green Valley for further tests.  It gave us all a scare.

Molly and I finished off the month of November with another Wine and Cheese party here at the park in the afternoon, and then a dinner buffet and play at the Broadway Palm Theater that evening.  We saw a musical rendition of A Christmas Carol.  As usual we shared our front row table with some real nice people.

Back to Mesa; October 2011



JoAnn busy quilting

Molly headed back to Oregon for a week long Quilting Retreat up in the Cascades with sister JoAnn.  While she was there, I was here in Mesa cleaning and getting things in shape in temperatures in the high 90's.  They were getting rained on.  But they were having a good time and she has already signed up for next year.

My job list included 19 items that I had to get done while she was gone including washing the Park Model, cleaning the car-port and back patio as well as many other items that I completed.

Letterbox hike to Weaver's Needle

Also while she was gone, I couldn't help but go out and get a few Letterboxes.  She didn't want to do any of the longer hikes so that's the ones I got.  My first one was a 4.5 mile hike in the Superstition Mountains up to a viewpoint for Weaver's Needle.  It was quite a hike, especially in the heat.

I completed some of the rubber stamp carvings for some Letterboxes we wanted to plant up at Saguaro Lake.  I planted four while Molly was gone that we called the Saguaro Lake Series.  They included the Marina, del Norte, Butcher Jones, and Saguaro Lake Trails.  Actually the same day I published the clues at , someone hurried up there and found two of the easy drive-bys.

Once Molly got back we both did some Letterboxing to some of the easier ones around here.  There aren't nearly as many here in Arizona as there are in the Northwest, and many of them haven't been found for some time.  The Weaver's Needle box hadn't been found for a year and a half.  We also planted another box named "Red Mountain".

While browsing through the paper one morning, Molly was surprised that Jimmy Buffett was coming to town that week.  We hadn't seen Jimmy since we retired, so we got on-line and bought tickets.  The concert of course was great, but there were sure a lot of crazy people there.  He sang most of his old standards, with only one or two that we hadn't heard.  And of course he sang Jolly Mon Sings just for us!!! (we named our sailboat after the dolphin in that song named "Albion", and our trail name for Letterboxing is "Jolly Mon").  It was a fun night, but a late one for us.

Raggedy Ann & Andy?

Apache Wells Pumpkin

The park is busy already providing parties for us residents.  Late this month we had a wine and cheeze tasting party with live entertainment.  It was good to see a lot of friends that have already returned and we got to compare summer notes.  Then, of course, we had our Halloween Party.  Molly had asked Jeanette for her Raggedy Ann and Andy costumes.  They were fine.....except Jeanette and Terry are not quite as fully bodies as we are!  So we went to Goodwill and Sunshine Acres for a few items to make the costumes complete.  We had a fun time.  And I couldn't go to the party without "something" so I spend a good part of the day carving an appropriate pumpkin for Apache Wells.

We had signed up for a maintenance club last year for free routine electrical, plumbing, and air conditioning inspection.  It was about to expire, so we called and had the air conditioning people come out to check the system.  They found out it was a 30 year old system, but most everything was checking out ok, until they got inside.  A wire to the motor was nearly bare, and to replace it would require a special order for an entire motor, $$$.  Then the filter/condensor (looks like a radator) was completely clogged and needed cleaning, $$$.  When they removed it, they found it was sitting in water (it wasn't draining) and was all rusted....another special order, $$$.  They also recommended that the ducts be cleaned if we were going to get a new filter, $$$.  So by this time, the supervisor showed up.  We started talking about a new unit rather than putting a lot of money into a 30 year old unit.  SO.....now we have a new air conditioning unit, duct cleaning included, that will last another 30 years, $$$$.  That's longer than the Park Model will last and certainly longer than WE WILL LAST!  We now have a programable thermostat, but the unit is about three times bigger than the old one, and therefore, lost some patio space out back.