Good Guys AZ 2009

Scottsdale AZ Good Guys 2009: Acres of cars, oh so many. Along with all the customs and hot rods were a couple of classic sports cars. Most very shiny and few needing one of everything. It is hard to imagine the the depth of the current depression after the spectacle of this show, I hope this is a good sign. The two videos below were meant to be snap shots but I had the camera on the wrong setting.

Catch up/Ketchup

Thursday this week I and some friends rode north from AJ through Globe to Show Low, than west to Payson and back to AJ with lunch in Show Low. Good weather, little traffic and smooth roads; at just over 300 miles a very good day. Now today a few of us rode to an annual car show (the 22 year). It was a small but nice showing.

Weener Wramble (the good, the not so good, and hopefully not the whiney)

We are safely tucked away for the winter in spot #150. The first full day here, I did laundry (the fun that never ends) and it mostly consisted of all of my long sleeve t-shirts, a sweat shirt or two and socks. Lots of socks. Now we are dressing in sleeveless t-shirts and shorts, have the A/C on most of the day and sometimes all night too. Our towels dry after a shower in about 20 minutes just hanging in the bathroom. In Washington, we rotate them on the little space heater for much of the day to get them dry for the next go round. No more water out of the tap.... AZ water is not for the faint of heart and is a sure way to ruin a good pot of coffee. We don't get the really cold water when we do turn on the faucet. You know how in the fall and winter when you run the water for a few minutes and it's icy cold? You can almost bathe in the water that comes out of the cold tap here. But it is now warm enough for iced tea... yum, with water from the reverse osmosis machine at the front of the park. My friend Tory introduced me to a really refreshing blend this summer... of course I'll have to send away for more when I run out. My friend Tory introduced me to many fun things this summer!
It's nearly the end of October and as I sit here in shorts with the A/C humming, I think "it's just about time for fruitcake" and then I think " I wonder if I will have to crank up the A/C while I have the oven on baking said fruitcake?"
I went out the door of the coach Saturday morning and found a roadrunner standing in the shade in of the doorway of the shed... they're supposed to be good luck- I think the small critters who used to live around here would beg to differ!
I'm missing family and friends up north but enjoying the catching up with friends I haven't seen since last spring.

Quartzsite AZ, No not quite, Apache Junction at Last

Didn't seem to make much sense when we got there so the made the run all the way to Apache Junction (552 miles). Arrived in the dark just before 8PM and had lots of good help making a smooth landing. Time to settle down until the morning when the real work of cleanup can begin.

Into the Sun

Redding CA to Lost Hills CA, 400 miles of smooth sailing, in my mind. I-5 is in a sad state in CA, pun intended. As interstate freeways go it used to the pride of the system but now you have to wonder where all the money went for maintenance. Good to be this far. There is a lot of commercial truck traffic on the road and in Oregon I saw both logging trucks, loaded, and trains with finished lumber, if it means anything it could be a good sign of the times.

Here we come or there we go (depends on your perspective).

So, two days into our travels south and we are in Redding CA tonight. Last night was Albany OR. It has been raining most of both days so far. Some cleanup will be required I am sure. No pictures as the weather has dampened the scenic views.

Parting is such sweet sorrow

My friend Jane(who I will be happy to see) wrote a post about the bittersweet parting. Leaving family and friends in one place and going to meet friends and family you haven't seen for a while in another. We're about to do just that. As much as I will enjoy seeing my 'winter friends' in the park in Arizona, I am always sad to part from my kids and my girlfriends. We have squeezed just about as much into the last 4 days as two 'old' folks can. We've witnessed another leg of Katie's success as a graduate from the apprenticeship program, celebrated Tim's birthday and finally met Steve (of Steve and Irish fame). Irish baked a killer pumpkin cheesecake and made me a beautiful Halloween bracelet with beads she swiped from Tory's stash...thanks to both of them for the new 'pretty' I will think of both of them everytime I wear it. Sunday we partied with the Perry family... good food, fun people! Ethan spent the night with us and the weenerdogs got a chance to visit with him too.

Today we are beginning the pack up. Grocery shopping for the trip south, a little 'ahead of time ' cooking... putting away stuff that's been out all summer that we won't need for the trip. Tonite we'll have Tony's pizza one last time with the kids and Grandma and Grandpa. They will miss us, we will miss them. So much fun, so little time.

Thanks to friends and family here in Kitsap County who went out of their way to organize their schedules around ours so we could get together. The people we missed seeing due to circumstances beyond our control, hope we see you next time. And thanks to our hosts who have allowed us to camp in their spare yard.