It's hard to believe that it's November as we have enjoyed such glorious weather.  As we listen to the reports of rain and floods in the northwest, blizzard and avalanche conditions in the Rockies and snow in the midwest, we realize how lucky we are to be enjoying our lifestyle.   As the month began, we had no real plans for anything exciting, but we always seem to find things to enjoy and friends to share the experiences.  Palm Creek had a "Welcome Back" party in the big parking lot.  About 1300 of our friends and neighbors had a Chinese dinner and entertainment with an Asian theme to get the "season" off to an official start.

One day, a group of us took a "field trip" to a local cotton farm.  Our tour guide was a retiree who has lived in the area all his life and at one time was a cotton farmer himself.  Our group met at an old two-room schoolhouse which is being restored by a tourism group.  Our guide, and also the farming family we then went to visit, had all gone to school there.  We drove right out into the cotton fields and got "up close and personal" with the farmer and his equipment while watching the harvesting process.  Its hard to believe that anything would grow in the dust and dirt out in those fields, but Arizona has the highest yield per acre of cotton in the US.  We learned about the whole growing process - which is a year long project for the farmers in this part of the country.   It was a great trip, but we needed a car wash and showers when we got home!
 
 

It was a beautiful day for our Welcome Back Party, but a long way to the stage for those seated in the far end of the parking lot.	An old schoolhouse is slowly being renovated to become the new home of the Sunland Visitor Center in Pinal County, AZ.	Cotton is Arizona's largest single cash crop.  The state produces enough cotton every year to provide a new pair of jeans to every person in the entire US.	This monster John Deere cotton picker is about 12 feet tall and picks four rows at a time.  There is a big basket on the back to hold the picked cotton.

 
 

The cotton is dumped into a big bin and then compressed into a big "module" weighing about nine tons	The modules are covered with a tarp and marked with the owner's code before being hauled to the "gin" where the fibers are separated from bits of the plants.

What to do with all our "stuff" is always a problem for RVers, and when we stay for an extended period of time in one place we sometimes accumulate a few extra things that we wouldn't use when just traveling from place to place.  Some of the RVers here at Palm Creek have built a shed on their sites in the park to store the larger items.   Since we do not own the property, if we decide to not return to our site, we can then sell just the shed.  Our neighbors, Arnie and Judy, decided to buy a shed from a departing RVer and move it to their site.  Sounds easy, doesn't it?  Moving the shed turned into a community project and a big social occasion for quite a group.  But we all agreed that it was worth the cost and effort as they now have a very sturdy and practical structure.
 
 

Here comes the parade!  A group escort moving the shed several blocks to its new home...riding on some 2x8s fitted with casters.  Luckily, there wasn't much traffic that day.	How many guys does it take to get the shed into its spot?  They slid it on some pipes across the gravel and into position.	New owners, Judy and Arnie, invited the helpers over for happy hour.  While they were out getting some pizza, the group decorated the shed.  Judy gave us only temporary approval.

Suddenly, Thanksgiving was approaching.  The park was planning a catered holiday dinner for a reasonable price, but our neighborhood group decided that we would be happier planning our own celebration.  Linda Kanable got us organized and we had a wonderful day.  So that nobody would have to get up early, and to allow a few of us to take advantage of free golf on Thanksgiving Day, "happy hour" began at 2:00 at Duncan's patio, and dinner was served at 4:00 at Wells' site.  The Wells' are still at their Washington State home, but had given us permission to gather on their covered patio and they missed a fantastic meal.  Thanks, Dick and Alice!!!    We had two turkeys, several kinds of stuffing and potatoes and lots of side dishes and salads.  Of course, there was pie for desert.  Twenty of us made certain that there was little in the way of leftovers.

We'd had a little warning, but no exact schedule, so we were not surprised when there was a knock on our door as we were getting out of bed Tuesday morning before Thanksgiving.  Our son Reid had arrived from Colorado.  Finished with summer rafting and having done a little skiing, he made a stop here on his way back to Costa Rica for the winter.  Reid's friend, Jenny, arrived on Wednesday and both of them were welcomed at our "block party Thanksgiving."   Mom and Dad challenged Reid to a round of golf Thanksgiving morning and Jenny went along to make sure we didn't gang up on him!   Reid and Jenny went backpacking in the mountains northeast of Phoenix over the weekend before she returned to West Virginia on Monday night, and Reid and Tom got in more golf on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday - this time at the "big boy" courses in Casa Grande.   Reid was scheduled to leave for Costa Rica early on Thursday, November 30.  For some reason we didn't check the airline website before heading up to Sky Harbor.  When we arrived there we discovered that, thanks to a nice ice storm, the flight to Dallas had been canceled.  Other arrangements to get him to Costa Rica without an overnight stay someplace could not be made, so we returned home and made the trip again on Friday morning.  This time, it all came together and Reid is now "home" along the Sarapiqui River in Costa Rica.
 
 

Our son Reid and his friend Jenny joined us for a few days over Thanksgiving.	We had lots of choices for Thanksgiving dinner.	Our "block party Thanksgiving dinner" was a great success...good friends, good food, good times!!

Up until the last few days of November, the weather had been "above average" in this part of the country.  Then we were suddenly hit with high winds and cold temperatures.  The many park workers feverishly covered all the flower beds several nights in a row to protect them from freezing air and walking and playing the golf course took some fortitude.  (And we have a little sand in our teeth!)  But, they tell us it won't last but a few days.  We'll be gearing up for the Christmas holidays...next month should be busy, too.