Birthday Celebration

Yesterday was the second time that Suzy LeRoy and I have celebrated our birthdays together.

Suzy’s birthday is today (Nov. 7) and mine was Thursday (Nov. 5), so our party was held on the day between (Nov. 6). She and hubby Jerry have a site in the Escapees Saguaro Co-op in Benson, so we’re only about 7 miles apart. They write a wonderful blog called Our Life on Wheels, and Jerry has been inspirational and helpful to me in learning to write and improve my own blog. We went out for dinner last year for our birthdays, so it seems that this will continue as an annual event. We’ve already made a date for November 2010.

When the party was originally planned, Don offered to grill tri-tip and Suzy offered for Jerry to fix some accompaniments. By the time it actually happened, our little party had grown to 8 people!

This photo shows (L-R) Don, Liz and Craig Del Rosario (Don’s son and D-I-L), Suzy, Me, Jerry, Ken and Maryanne Watson. Ken and Maryanne are long-time RV friends who live in Cave Creek, AZ. They were stopping by on their way home from a several-month trip to Indiana and other eastern points.  This photo was my first attempt at using the timer on my new camera, and I didn’t have the focus set correctly. But at least you can see that we had a great party.

Craig is an independent unexploded ordnance technician, and works on various projects in different locations throughout the U.S. He recently finished a job and hasn’t selected the next one, so he and his wife came in their motorhome to Cochise Terrace to spend some time with us. They recently became full-time RVers and have found this lifestyle to work well for his profession. We were able to get them a site in the deeded lots area of the resort, about a block away from us. We don’t know how long they’ll be able to stay, but we’re really enjoying having them here.

Ken and Maryanne are very proud of their new home on wheels, and it *is* a beauty.

It even has a big outdoor kitchen that slides out, providing countertop, stove, BBQ, sink, refrigerator and storage. We’ll look forward to a nice dinner from you, Ken!

My birthday present from Don came a few days early, so I’ve been enjoying riding around the park on it.

It’s a persimmon-colored Townie 21-speed bike, constructed to allow the rider to sit on the seat and have both feet on the ground. I’m not quite flat-footed when both feet are down (the right one is on the pedal in this photo), but I’m much more stable when starting off than I was on the old one. And I think I ride better and am definitely more comfortable. Don has the same bike (only taller) and has enjoyed it much more than his old one.

I gave myself a birthday present, too, if you want to call it that. Since my Sony camera with 4x zoom bit the dust recently, I decided it was time to upgrade. I had been wanting a more powerful zoom, so I chose the Nikon Coolpix S630 with 7x optical zoom and 12 megapixels. I really didn’t need the higher megapixels, since I downsize the photos for emailing and blogging, but the zoom is really nice for distance shots. And there are lots of nice features, too, which will keep me in a learning curve for awhile.

I love sunsets, so I’ll close with this photo, taken from the back of our RV lot, using the Sunset Scene setting.