November, 2003
This
has been our "quietest" month since we started our travel adventures. On
Saturday, November 1st we drove from Yuma, Arizona to Casa Grande...a
distance of about 160 miles, arriving at the Palm Creek Golf and RV Resort in
mid-afternoon. This had been our "home" for five months last winter, so we
were in comfortable surroundings as we made our way to the registration office
and then to our parking site. As RVers tend to do, there were a few other
RVers "checking us out" as we parked our rig and it was fun to see the smile on
their faces when, after yelling hello to them, they realized that it was old
friends in a new rig moving into our spot. Within in a short time we were
all set up, hooked up and feeling "right at home." Over the
next few days we made our way around the park to check out the changes made or
in progress since we had departed last spring. There were many more rigs
in the park at the beginning of November than there had been last year.
Within
a few days were were both into an activity schedule much like that of last
year....plenty of tennis, golf, bike riding, and bridge for Tom. His new
game is water volleyball. We have enjoyed a few "happy hours" with
neighbors as they have arrived, and attended some get-togethers with tennis
buddies. Mary also finished up a sewing project - and got 3 new
Christmas nightgowns sent off to Ohio for the granddaughters. The park
itself is "under new management" and there are quite a few minor changes -
making the place a little "spiffier." Major changes include 4 new tennis
courts which will help make getting court time a lot easier. They also
moved the golf "pro-shop" into larger quarters and are adding some new services
around the park. They tell us that reservations were totally booked
for January and February by August. The golf course was closed when we
first arrived as they were re-seeding. There had been 100* days through
October, putting them way behind schedule. The "front 9" opened November10
and the "back 9" will open December 1....both are looking great!
There are a few changes in the town of Casa Grande as
well. The biggest is that a shiny new "Super Wal-Mart" has opened just
about 3/4 mile away from the park. There are some new restaurants
and doctor's offices, and many new homes being built, but otherwise it looks the
same. We've made one trip into the Phoenix area so far, and a new section
of freeway has opened which will make shopping trips easier. One day we
drove 20 miles to the Harrah's Ak-Chin Casino and enjoyed "senior fest" with
entertainment by the Four Lads and a decent buffet lunch. Tom took a "few
days off" November 21-24 and drove up to Las Vegas to spend a long weekend with
his old "poker buddies" from Toledo. Five of them had flown out for a few
days of card playing and they all seemed to have a good time. Mary kept
busy while he was gone playing lots of tennis and working one her new Gateway
laptop computer which the UPS man had brought the day before Tom left. (We
had grown tired of of quirks of the old one and finally ordered a new
one.)
Suddenly it was Thanksgiving! We shared a delicious Turkey
Day dinner with Tom's bridge group. There were 24 of us among about 225
people in the park ballroom. The park provided a turkey for every 12
people and an amazing choice of other foods was brought by the rest of us.
After dinner, our group stayed in the ballroom for some games of bean-bag
baseball and cards. Quite an enjoyable day.
By the
end of the month, even more rigs arrived at Palm Creek, and more "park
models" were being moved in. We're looking forward to the arrival in the
area of acquaintances from Ohio and Michigan as well. And, we'll be
working on getting organized for our holiday trip to Ohio coming up in just a
few short weeks.
The
water-volleyball court in action.
An
afternoon at the tennis courts.
Thanksgiving dinner was held in the Palm Creek Ballroom.
After
dinner we worked of the calories playing Bean-Bag Baseball. Tom is ready
to go from second to third base!
