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October in Casa Grande was an almost perfect month, and probably the "quietest" month we've experienced since we started full-timing.  Parked in our spot at Palm Creek, we were at the end of an almost empty street.  The rigs and park models near us were mostly unoccupied.  At the start of the month, the park itself was like a ghost town a good part of the day and night.  It was rare to have a vehicle come past our site.  We could see across the park to the highway to the south and the freeway to our east.  We could take a walk or a bike ride and not see another human being. It was really quiet.
 
 

That's us --- way down there on the left!

Another advantage of being here early in the "season" is that golf is free.  So, we made certain to take advantage of that every day...making our "tee time" (although all we had to do was walk up to the first tee) somewhere around 6:30am because of the daily high temperature somewhere around 100*.   On October 9, however, the front nine holes were closed and re-seeding began.  Tom began frequenting the public golf course near us (Mission Royale) which had $10 green fees while Mary alternated mornings between the tennis courts and the back nine.  But the "good news golf" had to come to an end.  The public course closed for re-seeding as did the Palm Creek back nine.  We spent a little more time at the tennis courts, and as a few more residents arrived, voices and laughter began to echo across the park.   The poker and bridge tables drew players out of their homes and Tom was even able to bring home some $$$ on occasion.

As the days went on, we began to see groups of workers sprucing up the park...flower beds were filled with bright blossoms, palm trees were trimmed, and the street sweeper made rounds.   One of the biggest changes was that the "big white tent" in the activity center was removed.  It had been used for parties, vendor fairs, ping pong, indoor pickleball, model car races, etc. for years.  But they tell us that soon it will be replaced with a real several story building.  That will be nice!  Another bright spot in the month was the gradual opening of some of the stores in the big new regional mall being built across I-10 from our park.  We no longer need to drive 30 miles to Chandler to shop somewhere other than WalMart and KMart...and now have our own Kohl's, Target, JCPenney, Dillard's, Staples, and PetsMart.  Theaters, restaurants and other stores are due to open next month.
 
 

It took them all day to take down the big tent.	Our new mall is what they call a "lifestyle center."  That means there is no indoor center court.

Having not spent much time near our old Ohio home this past summer, we had not had our annual medical checkups.  So, we made some medical appointments here in Arizona and began the process Arizona style....meaning we miss our old doctors and the way they do things.  No really bad experiences here, just different and time consuming.

By the end of the month, most of our immediate neighbors had arrived and there were about 1000 of 4000 residents in the park.  We were able to at least use the driving range at the city golf course.  And finally, one or two golf courses in town reopened and Tom and some neighbors took advantage of pre-season rates.  Our October 28 happy hour turned into a celebration.  Tom had arranged a surprise party to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary.  Twenty-five or so neighbors gathered to share pizza and cake and wish us another 40 years together.  Where did all those years go?  A poem that our daughter sent us sums it up for us...

Suddenly banners, balloons, photos and food appeared.  Happy 40th Anniversary!	Pizza's here!  Let's eat.	I think we did this once 40 years ago.  Cake for everyone!

We had a great time at the party...and we look forward to those many more years.
 

The re-modeled golf pro-shop held an open house and started signing up players for various leagues.  The front nine is once again looking like green velvet and will open November 1.   And, of course, we couldn't end October without Halloween.  Not having any little ones around a 55+ community we didn't expect any trick-or-treaters, but we should have known better.  When some of our adventurous neighbors came calling we had to be creative for treats, but some home-made brownies kept us from getting any tricks.
 

Trick-or-treat!!  Our neighbors, Mary and Ted Duncan

                                 Our temperatures are still near the 90's, the new golf clubs have been cleaned, Mary has a new tennis racquet, and we're ready now for "winter" to begin.