December, 2002  page 1

Our activities in December have continued to be much the same as in November.  The weather has turned a little cooler....about 70* in the sunny daytime and down to 40* or so at night.  The furnace runs in the early morning but we are comfortable being outside during the day in shorts, sometimes with a sweater.  "Happy hour" is always on the patio but when the sun goes down around 5:00, we head inside.  We haven't been to the pool quite as often, but it is well heated.

The tennis group got together with hor's dourves rather than racquets on Sunday, Dec. 8.  It was a nice chance to get to know some of the players better.  On the evening of the 11th we were entertained by a duo called "The Needham Twins."  They were a fun pair who play many instruments and sing well.   On Thursday the 12th we went to the Harrah's Ak-Chin Casino nearby and enjoyed a free performance by the "Mills Brothers".....obviously not the originals, but one is a son of one of the originals.  We didn't come away with any extra money - but are looking forward to returning after the first of the year when BlackJack tables will be added to all the Indian casinos in Arizona.

 

The local excitement near the park during the week of Dec. 8-15 was the attempt of the "300-way Jump."  Over 300 sky-divers were individually invited to "SkyDive Arizona at the Eloy, AZ airport to participate in the attempt to set a world record for the number of divers jumping simultaneously from planes at 21,00 ft, free-falling into a formation and holding it for 3 seconds.  Another record was set by the number (14) and type (turbine twin Otters) of airplanes flying in a "V" formation.  Before the first jump on Monday, the sky-divers had spent time in orientation meetings held by the "choreographers " of the jump and practiced making the formations out in the desert and on a landing field, and then jumped in groups of 100 making parts of the larger formation.  They attempted the 300-way jump three or four times a day.  Each attempt was videotaped from the planes, the ground and various jumper's helmets and evaluated before the next jump.  The formation in the sky was spread out over several hundred yards and when the formation broke apart and the divers spread out and opened their parachutes they landed over a mile of desert.  Volunteers in a fleet of trucks and vans drove around and picked up those who didn't care to walk back to the airport.  Immediately upon returning to the airport, the colorful parachutes were "repacked" by the "groupies" waiting on the ground and the process started all over again.   The sky-divers were from all over the world and various backgrounds but all have 1000's of jumps experience.  Many were women, including one who is an astronaut, and many are active military personnel.  Some dive - and then land - barefoot.  Ouch!  The colorful parachutes bobbing around in the sky were amazing!   Just being at the airport was a neat experience, and we went several times to join the spectators with our chairs, binoculars and snacks.  The planes circled over our park each time they attempted the jump as they flew into formation.  Unfortunately, this amateur photographer was unable to get the camera to focus on small moving objects in the big blue sky, so we don't have any photos of the formation.  The record-breaking jump was made on the third jump on Thursday, Dec 12 and held for 7 seconds.   If you like, you can check out  www.300-way.com
Sky-divers laying on the landing field in a practice formation.
The "Pack-Jobs" area where the parachutes were repacked after each jump.
It's raining parachutes over Eloy, AZ.

A "mini family reunion" was held on Sunday, Dec. 15 when we drove to Tucson where we visited Tom's cousin, Joanne and her husband Don Blair.  We figured out that we had not seen them in 28 years.  We've all moved around in that time and in retirement have ended up a few exits apart on I-10. (We're at #194, they're at #270)  We had a great visit at their new home and they fixed us a delicious lunch while we caught up on all the family news.  We plan to have them up to "our place" after the first of the year.

Mid-December in Arizona brought "winter" to the desert.  We had frost several times and the workers at Palm Creek carefully covered the many flower beds each night.  We had some wind and rain but that came mostly at night.  Our days were bright and sunny.  Tom decided that his ribs were feeling pretty good, and ventured to the tennis courts a couple of times.  He managed to play through the sessions with no incidents. :-)    We attended a Christmas party given by Tom's bridge partner, Don, and met quite a few people here in the park.   A group of carolers rode around the park on a large trailer to add to the spirit, and owners of golf cars decorated their vehicles and paraded the park as well.   We continued our usual activities of bridge for Tom and golf lessons and quilting for Mary.      A few moments of concern during the week occurred when Mary's stepfather learned that he needed to have a "coronary artery stent" inserted to help his heart work more easily.  Fortunately the procedure went well and he returned home the next day.  If you'd seen us leaving the RV to play tennis on Sat. morning, Dec 21,  you'd all have laughed...we were dressed in several layers of warm clothes complete with gloves - and had to scrape the frost off the windshield to drive to the courts. (We decided we'd rather scrape than ride our bikes!!)   By the time we finished playing we were warmer, but the temperature was still only about 45*  That evening we had a farewell dinner and domino game with our neighbors, Don and Bev, from Kelowna, BC.  They are being kind enough to provide us with transportation to and from the Phoenix airport...departure at 6:15am, Sunday Dec. 22.  A big thanks to them!!!!            Happy Holidays all!!!

Tom's cousin Joanne and her husband Don at their home in Tucson.
Santa - Palm Creek style.
December, 2000 page 2

It was a dark and cold morning when we left Palm Creek for the ride to Phoenix at 6:15am on Sunday, Dec. 22.  We had to scrape the frost from the car windshield and the winter coats we'd dug out of the back of our closet felt pretty good. :-)   Our flight to Dallas and then on to Detroit went very well, and we arrived in Detroit about 30 minutes early.  Mary's brother Bill and his wife, Beth, were right there to pick us up and take us on to Toledo.  There we went to our storage unit and with flashlights and wrenches, the guys were able to hook up the battery on our Ford Explorer and we were "off and running."  We stayed two nights with Bill and Beth and enjoyed visiting with them late into the night on both nights.  They were great hosts!

Monday didn't go as well with the Explorer.  We had to call AAA twice during the day.  The first diagnosis was that we needed a new starter.  We disagreed and drove on to run various errands.  After the second diagnosis we drove straight to Sam's Club and purchased a new battery and had no more trouble during our two week stay in Ohio.  In between auto problems we were able to visit with Tom's mother, Mary's grandmother, former neighbors and good friends.

On Tuesday, Dec. 23 we headed on to Marysville to spend Christmas with our daughter Ann and her family.  There was a good snowfall on Christmas Eve, so we had a "white Christmas."  Brr......        Granddaughters Coffey, Close and Merrick were quite excited by Santa's visit.  He brought them most of the Barbie toys that they didn't already have in their collection.  We had a fun day sharing their enthusiasm as they opened gifts and then helping put things together...we needed an engineering degree just to open the packages!!!

We stayed in Marysville till Dec. 30.  It was really great to be a part of the daily life of the granddaughters.  We read lots of books together and played lots of Barbies, Candyland and computer games.    One evening we took a "break" and met Bounder friends, Sue and Ed Sims, in Columbus for dinner.  We chat with them frequently via computer, but its always good to see people face to face!

The McCurdy Family Christmas tree December 24, 2002

Merrick, Coffey and Close ready for stories with Grandma Mary and Grandpa.
Coffey and Close spending time with "Rapunzel Barbie and "Prince Stephan Ken"
Grandpa putting together Rapunzel's Castle.

The Christmas Beauties.....Coffey, age 5  Close, age 3 1/2  and Merrick, age 2   December 25, 2002

For some, like Merrick, the box is sometimes more fun than the contents.
On December 30 we returned to the Toledo area where we stayed with good friends Kathy and Dennie Dew in Waterville.  It was good to hear the latest from their kids...Molly, who took over my job as first grade teacher at Holland Elementary, Darin who lives in Washington, DC, and Dennis who lives in Chicago.  Sadly, Kathy's Dad had passed away and we attended memorial services with the family.  On New Year's Eve, with the Dews, with whom we have spent New Year's Eve for most of the last 34 years,  we attended a fantastic performance of "The Phantom of the Opera."...a great way to end 2002.
Our good friends, the Dews--  Darin, Molly, Dennis, Kathy and Dennie
Click on "back" above to see more of our December adventures.