Friday, March 4, 2011 (Apache Junction, AZ)

Our plan for today was to do some grocery shopping and laundry...sounds like a fun day, don’t you think?! But first we were going to another RV Resort in Apache Junction to visit Renee and his wife, Marie. Steve knows Renee from work...he used to own Island Temperature Controls, so did business with Pacific Controls.( Rob worked for this company briefly when he was doing his co-op program with BCIT.) He retired 21 years ago but always stopped in at Steve’s office when they were home from wintering down south. Renee had given Steve his phone number last year and told him to call should we ever be in Apache Junction....so here we are...and so he did. Steve made arrangements to visit Renee at 10 a.m. at their winter home in Golden Vista RV Resort.

What a lovely couple...they were very intrigued by our truck and after showing them through it, Renee took us behind their park-model where he had his “baby”...a Gold Wing 1800 Motorcycle...Wow! He is a very active senior! Not only does he ride his motorcycle with a group of guys from the park, but he hikes, walks and does woodwork. His wife Marie is also very active with the quilting club.

We sat inside chatting over coffee and then they took us on a tour of their RV Resort. I find it very interesting that these parks are called “RV” Resorts...at least 95% of the so-called RV’s are permanent park-models. I understand that there has to be a percentage of sites for RV’s to be called an RV Resort. This happens to be the biggest RV Resort we have ever seen...1075 sites! It is quite a place with tons of activities....swimming pool...sports pool....very large hot tub...shuffle boards...wood working...silver smithing...lapidary (rock hound) shop....quilting...no excuse to be bored here.

Dianne holding petrified dinosaur poop in the rock shop...it was being made into drink coasters...

After a great visit with them, we said our goodbyes...it was after noon already! Fun time was over...time to do our chores. We started with laundry. Garth and Donna had suggested a Laundromat that they use across the road from them. It is really nice, big and clean with fast machines and we were done our 2 loads in about an hour. Then it was off to Safeway for groceries. The first Safeway I’ve been in since back home. They are all laid out pretty much the same so it is really nice to feel some familiarity when shopping. There is one addition that I really like...the big liquor display right next to the deli section!

We were finally home at about 3:30...time to get all the groceries away and get the lasagne made because we had invited Garth and Donna over to our place for dinner tonight. We had a great evening with them and then they headed out to get ready for their daughter, Lana and her family. They were arriving late tonight from Wyoming. Another daughter, Cindy...the one we met when we were in Orangeville...and her husband, Bob, were arriving tomorrow.

Steve and I did up the dishes and then watched a little TV before heading to bed. We are going to head to Yuma tomorrow to visit more friends.