go to "What we've  been doing...."
 

April Fool's day was not so foolish around Palm Creek.  The mass exodus had begun.  Several of our neighbors had departed before the first of the month and on the first, the park really began to empty out.  Daily, the parade of rigs out the front gate was a busy one.  On the other hand, there was a smaller crowd on the golf course and tennis courts, at poker games and bingo and far less traffic to deal with on the streets.  A park with over 2000 spaces means a lot of people!  Those who had to leave us lost out on some of the most beautiful weather we've had all season.  We did still have a few left in the neighborhood, and happy hours lasted till after dark on several occasions...and we weren't gathered around the heaters and wrapped in blankets!  But, sadly, our happy hours got smaller and smaller.  As each group left, we were the recipients of the patio flower pots and the perishable food from the fridge and freezer.  Thanks, guys, for prettying up our space and helping out the food budget!

We were still keeping busy, even as the population dwindled...Mary enjoyed "an evening out" with neighbors Art and June Nelson and Andi and John Wallin traveling to Mesa for a dinner theater performance of "My Fair Lady."  The evening had been organized by Andi as "one of those things we keep talking about doing" and it was quite enjoyable.  The group is looking forward to seeing what shows will be presented next season at the Broadway Palm Theater.

Our good friends from our "past life" as Springfield High School Boosters, now living in nearby Sun Lakes, AZ, invited us to dinner with a few other friends.  Nancy and Rex Wilsen always serve a delicious meal and provide us with an enjoyable evening.  We hope to visit them this summer at their Ohio place in Lakeside.   Another evening we shared our "slide show" of photos from our trip to Costa Rica with our neighbors Judy Grove and Arnie Hawkins.
 
 

It was "Happy Hour" so we were all smiling!  There were a few missing this day, but this is the majority of our "neighborhood gang."

Art and June Nelson, Andi and John Wallin took Mary to see "My Fair Lady" and enjoyed a great dinner buffet.	Mary, Kathy Miller, Chris Kibler, and Nancy Wilsen enjoyed an evening at Wilsen's home in Sun Lakes.	The guys, Tom, Frank Miller, John Kibler and Rex Wilsen had a good time, too.

Easter Sunday was "wash day."  Tom was up early and headed out with a bucket and rags and washed the entire coach.  In between sides, while the sun was changing directions,  we went out to dinner with neighbors Art and June Nelson.   Unfortunately, several days later we had terrific wind and sandstorms and then in the evening, it rained.  When we got up the next morning, it looked like someone had splashed handfuls of mud on the sides of everybody's rigs, especially the dark painted ones like ours.  So, we started all over again with the buckets and rags.  This time it was a park-wide event!!

In between all our social activities, we were also busy with a few doctors appointments and some medical testing.   Tom was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer and we proved what other full-timers keep saying - that,  with a little effort,  you can always find good doctors and medical care anywhere you go.  Tom was referred to a radiation-oncologist in Chandler, AZ.  and working through insurance issues and schedule conflicts took some effort, but Tom feels he received very good care and treatment for the "brachytherapy," which is the implanting of radiation seeds.  The procedure was done as an "outpatient" at the Casa Grande Regional Medical Center with a minimum of discomfort, considering the location of treatment on Tom, and within 48 hours Tom was back on the golf course!  (He also didn't miss the Monday night poker game on the day of the procedure!)  The outlook for success is quite good as the oncologist tells us that the prostate cancer was caught at a very early stage and overall this treatment is about 90% effective.

In mid-April, Tom flew to the Dallas-Fort Worth area as part of a Head Start evaluation team.  This review was one of his more time-consuming ones, but it provided him with a little review of his accounting skills and a little cash for our account!  Meanwhile, back at Palm Creek, in between golf, tennis, a farewell lunch out with Art and June, Judy and Arnie, and a visit from full-timing friends, the Morgans, it was spring cleaning week.  Mary managed to get lots of cupboards and drawers emptied, scrubbed and reorganized - and even some "purging of stuff" was done.  She also lugged lots of heavy bedding, that doesn't do well in our small washer, to the laundromat,  took down all the screens and got them all scrubbed, and washed the windows as well.  Evenings were spent getting computer files organized and backed-up.  We both enjoyed dinner out in Chandler and a (profitable) stop at the Wild Horse Pass Casino on our way home from the airport on Tom's return!
 
 

Neighbors Arnie Hawkins, Judy Grove and Art Nelson played some challenging games of Ping Pong one afternoon at the end of the season...we'll have to do more of this next year.	We met Harold and Mary Morgan years back when we both owned Bounders and have crossed paths several times since.  They stopped in Casa Grande on their way from their winter spot in Edinburg, TX to Alaska.	There are about 2000 sites at Palm Creek, but at the end of April, we could see through the 10 streets from our site to the south end of the park.

Throughout the month we were honored with short visits from our son, Reid.  He has been working as a white-water-rafting guide on the Salt River northeast of Phoenix since mid-March.   The rafting company (Wilderness Aware) has a temporary facility set up on the Apache Indian Reservation because the season is very short and because water levels are not even high enough in some years to allow operations at all.  Reid has enjoyed working on a "new river" within a very different environment than he's worked in the past and has also enjoyed learning about the history, culture and flora and fauna of the reservation.  On his few days off he has headed "home" (isn't it nice that his parents can move home around to meet him??) for a hot shower, home cooked meals (well, a few, anyway) and several rounds of golf.  The water level finally was too low to operate commercial trips, so the guides took a three day adventure trip of their own into the Salt River Canyon, and then packed up all the gear to be shipped back to Colorado.  On his end-of-the-season visit in Casa Grande he found time to clean out and reorganize his truck and have new brakes installed, do lots of laundry, shop for a new cell phone, play golf with mom and dad, and even come in second at the Texas Hold'em table.  Then it was off to Colorado (trading 90* and sun for 35* and snow) where he will first take a class as a  "Wilderness First Responder" and then begin the white-water-rafting season for Kodi Rafting in Buena Vista and Frisco.

With only a few days remaining in our stay at Palm Creek, we began getting ready to hit the road again.  We did a little cleaning out and reorganizing ourselves...all this stuff was in these storage bays before, wasn't it???  And of course, we had to check tire pressure and cable connections, uncover the tires and take down the window screens, etc.  One important chore was for Tom to pick up and test out his new golf clubs.  He bought a new set of irons and also got Mary two new hybrid clubs.  They all work quite well!  One advantage of being at Palm Creek this time of year is that you can decide you want to go play golf, and just walk up to the course and play...there are very few people playing so tee times are not important.  It will be even better after we leave because the pro shop will be closed and play will be free...just our bad timing!   On our last Saturday morning we had gone out to play and had finished five holes when our friends Don and Nina yelled hello from the first tee.  They invited us to play with them, so we just started over (that's a "mulligan" isn't it?)...a good game and a nice visit with friends!  Mary also spent some time in the sewing room working on an easy project that our neighbor Alice had showed her.  And, we had a few last happy hours with our dwindling neighborhood crowd...six of us!

We've heard stories and seen some photos of the "monsoon duststorms" that blow through Casa Grande in the summer.  In this "unusual year" of weather, we were able to experience some reality on our last Saturday afternoon in the park.  It had been a bright sunny day with no wind.  The temperature had climbed to 102* on the thermometer hanging on our neighbor's wall...the first 100* day this year!  All of a sudden the wind picked up -  and looking out to the southeast we could see a big orange tornado-looking shape blowing toward us.  The palm trees were bending and anything loose was flying through the air.  We couldn't see through the orange - it was all sand and dust.  Tom had just left the activity center on his bicycle and as he turned the corner towards home, the dust was coming straight at him.  He waited a few minutes then made it home in time to take a few photos as the storm was passing on.  Mary was hanging out in the sewing center at the time.  The dust and dirt was followed by about three hundred raindrops...so you can imagine what everything looked like...splotchy brown mud-spots all over EVERYTHING.  The good news was that our automatic awning worked!
 
 

Texas Hold'Em at Palm Creek...Reid in the white shirt at the first table and Tom in green at the left of the second...Reid came in second that night.	The golfer and the rafter. They do each enjoy the other's sport!	Reid with Mom and Dad	The "tail end" of the big orange cloud of dust...from our site we can usually see the freeway overpass, the new mall construction and the mountains beyond.

Sunday, April 29 was a little cooler than Saturday had been...only 97*...but we were up, out and at work fairly early...getting our last chores done AND washing the muddy side of the RV.  We also washed the car, emptied out all the flower pots, removed the window screens and tire covers and got them scrubbed, and washed some windows.  We had a last Happy Hour with neighbors Dick and Alice Wells and Kay and Dave Childers and took a "farewell tour" around the park on our bikes, stopping to say goodbye to Char and Terry Eicher.

Departure day, Monday, dawned bright and sunny...BUT, WAIT!    Golf at the Palm Creek course is free to residents for the summer starting today....SO,  "I guess we have time for a round of golf before we leave."  We were on the course by 8:30, walked the 18 holes at our leisure - just enough other golfers to allow us all to do that - and were home by 11:00.  We like our new clubs!   (They even make "birdies.")       Back at home, our neighbors Art and June Nelson had returned from their trip to Iowa so we could return her patio flowers and have some farewell hugs once again.  After lunch we got the final chores accomplished and even remembered how to hook up the car and braking system.  The engine started, the jacks came up, the lights all worked...and we were off...heading east.  It had been a great winter season.
 
 

So long, Arizona !
We'll see you in the fall !