In the ZONa

Saturday we lazed around and didn’t do much at all.  I was going to go for a hike, but there was a rodeo going on where I wanted to go and park.  Darn thing. So, I didn’t bother.  Just came back to the RV and we frittered the day away. On Sunday, we went to see a spring training game in Mesa, home of the Oakland Athletics.  They were playing the Kansas City Royals.  Of course, most of their players were minor-leaguers, but a few recognized names appeared. Including this guy...Ryan Goins...playing for KC now.  He played the first 5 innings or so, and unfortunately for him, didn’t do well at bat, but his fielding was outstanding, as always.  Gerard got his autograph and told him we’ll miss him in Toronto.               The game ended up tied 5-5, but we had left by about the 8th inning.  It was just fun to experience a game in the Cactus League. Today we booked a Steamboat tour on Dolly.  First we went up to T...

We have spent the week hiking, shopping, lying in bed and enjoying Sweden’s music. On Monday, we decided to hike up to the “saddle” (here it is). It doesn’t look like that big a deal, but the latter third of the hike was pretty strenuous...more because of all the larger rocks, and of course it’s up hill all the way. A couple of views from the top. A look over Apache Junction.  It was very cloudy (threatening rain) and a low cloud was hanging over the town. Gerard was not feeling great later on Monday, and Tuesday he was down (lying in bed) pretty much all day — cold and flu.  It has been going around the park here and there, so he must have picked it up somewhere here.  I didn’t take any pictures of him (he appreciates that).  I went out for a hike by myself, just around the desert nearby. On Wednesday, he felt well enough to get out for a bit of an easy hike, so we did that. Thursday, I went to Mesa to do some shopping, and to pick up some Pisco (California, here we...

Sorry, I haven’t been as diligent getting to this blog as in the past. Thursday we all did some chores and “must do” things around the RV park. One boring little fact...we noticed this street sign in our RV Park — funny because we are at “SUNRISE RV Resort” and we are going to “CALIENTE Springs RV Resort” after this. Anyway, Thursday evening we went to the Organ Stop Pizza for dinner with the Hollingers.  What a place.  If you’ve been in this area and never been to it, you’re missing something.  One of our neighbours here was telling us about it. These 2 guys were there. The place is huge, and the centre of it is this gigantic organ.  All the displays around pertain to the organ.  The organist plays all kinds of tunes, including requests. This gives you some idea of the size.  We were in the balcony. When the set starts, the organ rises out of the stage, and goes back down when the set is over.  Cool idea. Anyway, if you’re ever in the Mesa area, it’s ...

I believe I left off where we were going in to see Frank and John in Scottsdale on Saturday.  We went over in the afternoon and enjoyed some time at their pool.  We then went up to their unit, changed, and headed out to find a place for dinner.   Not sure what’s wrong with Gerard in this photo — like he was sitting on something. We lucked out and got a table on the patio next to the street.  This old boat went by as we were having dinner on the patio. So they went back to Vancouver on Monday (holiday in BC).  But we will see them again in Palm Springs in early March! Sunday and Monday, we went out for some hikes.  On Monday, John and Judy arrived so we had them over for dinner Monday night.  Nice to see them here!  We’ve got a few plans for the rest of the week. On Tuesday, we went out to Lost Dutchmen State Park and did a hike.  Beautiful spot. Here’s the happy gang (sans moi). We got up pretty close to the mountain where we couldn’t really ...

On Monday, we went out for another hike (what a surprise!).  This is called “the wall”.  How these big rocks get piled up in the middle of the desert...who knows.  Glacial activity?  Anyway, another beautiful day. Never get tired of seeing these saguaro cacti.  Got this with the sun behind it. The desert is great this time of year.  Nice and cool overnight, and such beautiful temperatures during the day. This is a shot of the “street” we are on in the RV Resort.  The people here have been amazing. On Tuesday night, we went to a Holey Hole (or Holey Board, or Washer Game) tournament that our neighbours had invited us to go to.  It was great fun.  We didn’t win, but we’re virtually beginners.  We have played it before, but not much. On Wednesday, they have a monthly late afternoon lunch and entertainment thing put on by the resort.  It’s under the guise of a sales pitch by the resort to sell park models and the like, but I think they ...