More From Casa Grande

Don and I have been pretty busy for the past 2 days in Casa Grande while the weather was warm and sunny. Tomorrow we’re expecting rain and I hope it moves through the area and clears by the time we leave Monday morning.

As happens with many couples we know, Don and I have different ways of shopping. He usually goes to Walmart or Safeway, only 3-4 miles from our place in Benson, begins shopping at the farthest point in the store for which we have an item on our list, and works his way toward the front of the store to check out. When I go by myself, I wander and look at things I might someday want, or to see if there’s any new yarn I like, or pick up things in the grocery section of WM along my way to the back of the store. Sometimes I even return to an aisle I’ve been through because I forgot something I wanted there.

He surprised me yesterday. He drove about 30 miles north to the Phoenix outlet mall (located in Chandler), then we went to several stores shopping for the kind of quick-dry pullover shirts and cargo shorts he like to wear. This time he was buying them a few sizes smaller. We had lunch at the food court in the mall and continued shopping. We finally returned to the truck about 3 pm and only one of the many shopping bags we toted contained something I bought for myself. And today, we went to 3 more stores in Casa Grande!

If you haven’t seen Don lately, here are before/after pictures showing how dramatic his weight loss has been.

Before – chatting with his brother Jim in the Boston area October 2014.

After – about a month ago in our ‘casita’ with Gigi.

And here we are tonight at the Hong Kong Kitchen, with the Mains (Jan & Bill) and the Kelpes (Jan & Paul).

Besides clothes, shoes and other things, Don found one of his favorite treats is now available in a sugar-free version!

And we stopped by Jan & Bill’s long enough to drop off a couple of things for them, as well as see the new light fixtures she bought for their house. They will replace the one you see behind her at the entry, as well as on both sides of the garage.

It’s been a nice chance to do some serious shopping in a bigger town than Benson, and we’re winding down on our buying, but we still need to pick up a couple more things before we leave the area. Our trip to Lake Havasu City will start early Monday morning, with plans to meet other friends for lunch at the Blue Water Casino in Parker, AZ. Stay tuned for more adventures, and follow Jan’s blog as well.

On the Road Again!

Yes, Don got to sing his version of our favorite Willie Nelson song yesterday!

We’re so happy that his health has improved to the point that we’re able to get back to our favorite lifestyle – RV travel. Here’s a sight we haven’t seen for awhile, Picacho Peak. Click the link to learn about the Civil War battle fought here and re-enacted every year in March. Don climbed this peak before we met, so it’s a familiar place that brings back good memories for him, and we together visited the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch at the base of the mountain several years ago, giving us shared memories.

Yesterday our departure from our lot in Cochise Terrace Resort was delayed by about 1.5 hours because of a problem we didn’t see coming. We were both worried that we might have problems with the jacks or the slides or the satellite dish, all of which needed to be stowed for travel. Even things inside the coach can shift and cause rattles or breakage, and it’s hard to remember what all needs to be put away when we’ve been stationary for so long. The motorhome was parked in the same position since Feb 29, 2016 – a year minus 20 days. Everything worked fine and we were ready to roll about 9 a.m.

Don went outside to move the Honda CR-V “Carrie” and the battery was dead. And guess where it was parked – right in front of the motorhome. Our battery-powered emergency start device was also dead. And we couldn’t find our jumper cables. Neighbors on both sides of us were gone. Finally Don found a neighbor several sites away who was home and had jumper cables to loan us. We started the car, jumped from the new batteries we just bought for the golf cart, and we were at last ready to depart. Thankfully, there were no other problems and we on our way!

After stopping for service at Speedco along the way, we arrived at Sundance RV Resort around 3 pm. Jan & Bill Mains had invited us for dinner at their beautiful home and we agreed to pick up another couple, Jan & Paul Kelpe. I remembered them from the Montana Owners Club (MOC) that I was active with when I owned a Montana 5th wheel. They have been here for a few weeks in their beautiful Montana Big Sky 5th wheel.

The dinner was delicious (Jan can no longer claim she can’t cook), and conversation and hugs abounded. Before we knew it we needed to call it a night so we could go home and feed and walk Gigi. I didn’t get any pictures but Jan sent the ones she took. However, our wifi signal is so weak I couldn’t down load them. Maybe tomorrow.