Cross off some on the list

Casa Grande, AZ
Sundance RV Resort

Not a lot going on here--two dentist appointments and an oil change.  

I used to always recommend Casa Grande RV Resort whenever anyone asked about a park in Casa Grande.  They had Passport America rates of $20.  Yesterday Sharon called and said she left a message with them but they didn't call her back.  I knew Sundance was very pricey many years ago when we took some people there, and I believe it was over $700 for a month.  Jan and Paul said their rate averaged $35 a day for their two week stay.  Sharon called them and and they answered the phone on the first ring.  They have an internet special for first timers of three days for the price of two.  Cheaper and much nicer than they could have stayed at Casa Grande RV Resort.  The best part is we'll all be headed to The Blast from the same park.

I'm totally amazed at the way some places do business.  How can you ignore your customers and expect your business to grow.  I know this is the season when everyone is looking for a RV park, but there will be a time when you'll be begging for customers.  Someday they will overbuild or there could be another hot spot where RVers go.

The good news is we stopped in Big 5 Sporting Goods.  Dennis suggested we take long johns to Alaska and after the cold spell in Quartzite I realized maybe I might need a pair.  I had previously stopped in Kohl's but they wanted $32 for the bottoms.  They weren't anything special.  Big 5 had silk ones for less than that.  Bill found a pair for me in the clearance section for $6.00.  That's more like it.  

I checked out another clearance section and found the 180 degree ear muffs.  We both have a pair but they were getting pretty worn.  They were $29 on Amazon and I found these at $10.  

Now I was on a roll.  Imagine finding two of those items on my Alaska list.  The only other thing else that was on my list was rain pants and boots.  Bill has a very good rain coat that is breathable, but needed the pants.  One pair was on the clearance rack for $15.

The only other thing on the list was waterproof boots.  I went back to the shoe department and there were three pairs of totes boots.  I held my breath as I checked the sizes.  Yipee, they had my size and were even comfortable and of course on sale.  

We picked up the North to Alaska maps at the Big Tent when we were in Quartzite.  I think I better spend some time plotting a course.  

I thought Schoolcraft's and Stapleton's were coming down today and tomorrow.  I had the days right just off by a month.  Again, I proved that I am calendar challenged.

Turtle Safely......

Good Bye Quartzite--It was fun!

Casa Grande, AZ

Sundance RV Resort

We decided to leave Quartzite yesterday.  There was another storm coming in and we'd visited everyplace we wanted to.  

I pulled out around 9 and Harry and Carlena were right behind us.  The weather forecast said the storm should arrive around 3 pm.  I hadn't pulled the 5th wheel in a long time because of cataracts.  It felt almost strange to be able to read the road signs so well.

There was a light rain on I 10 but not enough to make the road wet.  Just enough to keep turning the window shield wipers as slow as they can go.  

When we turned off to head to Gila Bend the sun came out.  There was no one at the dump station so we stopped and dumped.  In that short time, we started seeing dark clouds to our right and sunshine to our left.  

We were parked at Sundance before 2 and then the rain began.  Talk about good timing.  

I contacted Jan and Paul Kelpe to see what site they were in.  At that point we didn't want to go out again in the cold and rain and told them we'd catch up with them today.

They will be here three weeks, so we just drove them around town to show them where things are located.  I had a prescription I needed to pick up at Walmart and Jan needed a few things.

We drove over to the mall and to Sam's Club.  All of a sudden, Paul made a beeline down an aisle yelling, "This is perfect for Rondo."

What do you think, Ron?  I know Paul would have the resources to provide the hot air to blow it up.  

We ended up having lunch in Casa Grande's most expensive restaurant--a hot dog in Sam's Club.  

It was a fun day with those two and we're looking forward to spending more time with them.  

Turtle Safely......

Quartzite--My Birthday

Quartzite, Arizona
BLM Land Plomosa Road

I woke up this morning with the sound of our generator running.  Thank you, Harry for starting it.  

Misty called shortly after we were up to wish me Happy Birthday.  Nicky and Nikki called right after I hung up.  I never did get my hair dried with the hair dryer as it was completely dry once I got off the phone.  

The wind was blowing, and I hadn't had any time to fly my kite the whole time we've been here.  It went up very fast.

It went to the end of my line in no time at all.

Here's another one of our favorite dogs.

Dave McNair drove over in his truck and asked if we needed any water.  He had a water bladder in the bed of his truck and had plenty of water.  We've done well, rationing our water consumption.  We still have 1/3 of a tank left.  

Barb, Dave and Paisley Burtrom came over with a birthday present for me.

If we hadn't been on our way out to eat, those brownies would have been gone immediately.  

We hadn't been to the Grubstake in a while and decided that's where I wanted to go for dinner.  

The guys had water, and the girls had margaritas.

They were very good.

Look at the size of this fish and I ordered a two piece dinner.  I cleaned my plate, it was delicious.

We had a great time.  Shay called to wish me happy birthday, but it was so noisy, I told her I'd call her later.

When we returned Curtis knocked  at our door and had a big jar of some of Stephanie's tangerine and lemon marmalade for my birthday.  I can't wait to try it.  

We'll be seeing many of our friends again at the Winter Blast, the Good Sam Rally and or the Escapade.  

It's been a great week.  It seems like every year we come, we have a better and better time.

Turtle Safely......

Quartzite Day 7

Quartzite, AZ
BLM Land

Yesterday was cloudy and cold.  Harry and Carlena joined us while we walked the "flea" markets.  Bill always enjoys the junkie stuff at flea markets.  Of course, we also went back to Tyson Wells for things we didn't pick up the first time through.  There were more vendors open even though the weather wasn't as good.

The Montana Owners had a potluck scheduled but since the weather forecast was for rain around 5 pm, it was rescheduled.  

Dave came over and gave a private seminar on metal detectors to Bill and Harry.  It's not as easy as pushing the on/off button and walking around with it.  Dave answered a lot of questions and the next thing I knew they were outside practicing.

The wind was blowing and the temperatures were in the 50's.  

I took these photos from inside the warm coach.  

These aren't your normal blue skies of Arizona.  I must say that boon docking in Quartzite hasn't been bad since we got our propane heater.  How did we ever manage all the years without one?  We just run it on low, or it will run you out of here.  

The rain started about 5 pm but I don't think we had as much here as in the Phoenix area.  It didn't last long.

Today the sun was shining and we were going to show the Schoolcraft's the Desert Bar but Bill wanted to visit the Big Tent today.  One call to Harry and Carlena and they were ready to go to the tent.  

Harry found a great parking place that was easy to get into and out of.  There were cars everywhere you could park them.  

This was the first trip we took to the truck to unload our loot.  I did get a lot of information on Alaska.  Harry and Carlena were like Bill and I the first time we came to the tent.  We actually only bought two chairs and renewed our Passport America.  Of course a trip to the Big Tent isn't complete without a stop for ice cream.  

I always rate the vendors on their giveaways but this had to be the best one.

There was even a women's version.

It's a little blurry, but it says "headache relief".

Mac McCoy had told us that the Big Tent booths were $400 more than last year.  

John and Gayle came over and visited with us when we returned.  It started getting windy and we hadn't eaten so we went inside to get dinner.  We ended up skipping happy hour.


Turtle Safely.........

Quartzite, Arizona
Polomas Road BLM

People wonder what you do sitting in the middle of the desert in January.  It was another busy day beginning with a fire safety seminar from Mac McCoy.  We've attended at least one per year from him.  He's very serious but also entertaining as a speaker.  

Part of his seminar has the women in the class putting out different kinds of fires.  I must say these women did a great job of quickly putting out the fire.  

Notice how warmly everyone is dressed.  It was in the 50's. 

I forgot to mention the gift I received from Stephanie.  It
is lemon marmalade and it tastes wonderful.

Dave came over and wanted to check out Bill's metal detector.  He's going to spend some time with Bill and Harry tomorrow showing them how to properly use the detectors.

We went into town to go to the grocery store.  While in town, we decided to show Harry and Carlena Reeder's Book Store.  It's unique and if you've never visited it, it's a must see.  I just can't describe the sight we saw.  

No one had had lunch so we stopped at the Yacht Club.  It was crowded but there was a table available.  

We skipped the Montana Owners happy hour, as we were going to a Loosey Goosey meeting at 5:30.   

It was dark, windy and cold, but somehow we all had a great time listening to the stories about Alaska.  We were the first to say we were getting cold and it was 8 pm and time to go home.

Turtle Safely........

Quartzite Day 4

Quartzite, Arizona
Montana Circling of the Wagons

Today was even busier than yesterday.  

There was a seminar on refrigerators this morning.  It was very interesting and Paul explained the operation in a way that I could understand.  He has the patent on the ARPrv Control.  Naturally, we bought one.  

As we were listening to the seminar, a hot air balloon flew overhead.

Before we knew it, it was time for the Escapees Happy Hour.  It was so nice seeing friends that we haven't seen in awhile.  

There were some fifth wheels on display.  As nice as they were, we're still happy with the our Montana we have.   

The music was great, thanks to Johnny Goodrun.  The weather was great--what more could you ask for?  I think everyone liked the new location of the Happy Hour.  Mark did a great job hosting it.  The new location was much easier for parking.  It was close enough we could have walked over but since we had our chairs we all piled into the truck.  Carlena and I rode in the back of the truck.  I didn't have my camera with me, but hopefully, Dennis will share some of his photos.  

Dave Burtrom was kind enough to come over and add another fuse in line for us.  He's going to give Bill and Harry some help with their metal detectors tomorrow.  He also was going to have his telescope out tonight but we started to get cold and decided we'd be better off inside.  Hopefully, we can try it some other night while they are here.

Harry has this really neat smoker grill that Carlena used to make some delicious cookies.  

The Escapees Happy Hour was between 1 and 3.  The Montana Circle has their Happy Hour everyday at 4:30.  Needless to say we were very happy.  

Turtle Safely.......

Quartzite Day 3--Calendar, clock challenges.

Quartzite, Arizona
Montana Circling of the Wagons



We've been very busy.  Yesterday we had an appointment with the satellite shop.  They were going to come out on the BLM land but once we found out we had an appointment with RV Lifestyles at 1 pm we told the satellite shop we'd stop after the other appointment.  I was surprised how busy both places were.  By the time we returned, it was about 4:30.  We pulled back in and set up and ran inside to change into warmer clothes.  I'd received an e-mail from Dennis Hill who said there would be a Loosey Goosey meeting at 5:30.  We had Carlena and Harry grab their chairs and we drove over to the meeting.  Guess what?  No Dennis and no Carol,we were only two days early.  We ended up going to Silly Al's while we were out.  Anyone that knows me, knows I'm calendar challenged.  I also have a problem with time.  

This morning I woke up and looked at the clock and it said 7:15.  We decided to get up and made the bed and came downstairs to turn on the coffee pot.  Bill looked at his watch and it said 5:15.  I have a few of those atomic clocks that never seem to be in the right time zone.  The one by the bed is two hours off, but I forgot to subtract the two hours.  The other clock in the bedroom is three hours difference.  We went back upstairs and went back to bed.

Harry and Bill are waiting for Dave to arrive, as he's going to help then with their metal detectors.  

Harry and Carlena drove us over to Tyson Wells.  It's only about half full of vendors.  They enjoyed walking through, and bought stuff that all first timers pick up.  We picked up a gold pan, which with all the gold we'll find in Alaska, should help finance the trip.  Do you really believe that?

Look who we ran into at Tyson Wells.  It's Don Smith.

No sooner had we returned to the circle than a car pulled up.  It was Nick and Jeanne.  Isn't this a great photo of them?

Mary and Glen Strom arrived with their dog Nikki.  She and Boo got along just fine.  

It was a perfect day for the Meet and Greet.  Not windy at all.  The Canadians were in shorts, we were in sweatshirts.  

 Curtis and Stephanie made all the announcements.  There were many first timers in attendance.

Everyone brought some delicious food.  

Jim Fischer's birthday was today and we all toasted him Happy Birthday.  Not sure if Jim could hear us from the East coast, but he was thought of.

  Turtle Safely...........

Quartzite Day 1

Quartzite, AZ
BLM

We left Casa Grande around 7:45 am with Bill behind the wheel.  I know, I said I was going to drive since my cataract surgery, but it did look like rain.  Matter of fact, it rained pretty hard around Gila Bend but by the time we were on I 10 the weather cleared up.

Harry and Carlena left from Mesa about the same time.  Our plan was to meet them at the TA Truck Stop in Tonopah.  I picked that spot instead of the rest area because they had a huge truck parking area and the last time the rest stop was full with no place to park.  You wouldn't believe how full the truck stop was and of course, there was plenty of parking at the rest area. 

 Harry and Carlena arrived ahead of us and he was wearing a Pittsburgh Steeler hat.  He liked my Steeler sweatshirt. 

 We had an appointment at the satellite shop at 1 but we were early.  We dropped the fifth wheel and took them over to the Montana Circle of the Wagons.  Since this was their first time we stopped and registered for the BLM land and then showed them how to drive down the rope to park.

We went back over to the satellite shop and found out that Carol had to go to Phoenix and the other worker was tied up for awhile.  We decided not to wait and made arrangements for them to come out to the BLM land tomorrow.

The circle looks very large now, but it will be amazing how quickly it fills in.  The Circling of the Wagons doesn't officially start until Tuesday.

Dave and Betsy have a new addition to their family.  

Why were we all sitting in the shade?

Curtis has a lot of Alaska information to share with us.

 Turtle Safely......

Itching,,,,,scratching tomorrow.

Sundance RV Resort
Casa Grande, AZ

I can't believe it's been almost a week since I last blogged.  The next week or so while we are at Quartzite, we'll be too busy to blog.  

Yes, my eyesight has improved since the surgery.  I told Bill I thought I could start helping with the driving again.  Of course, I'll wait until tomorrow morning to see if its raining before I decide to do that.  

I was glad we didn't decide to go earlier this week, when     I 10 was closed down for 13 hours.  One thing about Arizona roads, if the interstate closes down, there aren't alternate routes to take.  It's one of the main reasons we avoid taking I 17 because it gets closed down so much.  The detour took all the traffic south to I 8.  

We got caught in a traffic jam on I 10 two years ago when we went to Quartzite.  It ended up only being two hours because they didn't shut the entire road down.    

We're looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new people.  

Casa Grande had a home show at the old mall today.  It really wasn't much of a home show, more of a car display.  The weather called for rain today, but it was very nice out.

Bill enjoyed seeing all the cars.

You can't see it well, but there's an air conditioner mounted on the rear passenger window.

There were vehicles from all different time periods.

There was music playing and of course a few food vendors.

See that thing on the roof of this bug?

We couldn't figure out what it was for.  Any ideas?

Bill owned an MG like this one.  He said it was always something going wrong with it.  After he sold it, the man who bought it said it was the most trouble free car he'd ever owned.  I guess Bill got all the bugs out of it.

This car had Nebraska plates and I think I remember seeing it at the Cruise In in Kearney.

Pinal County Swat vehicle which was bought with drug money. 

Turtle Safely.........