Wednesday, January 11, 2012 (Usery Mountain Regional Park, Mesa, AZ)

We had our usual start to the day and after our exercises, showers and breakfast, we were almost ready to get on with our day...we were going to go to Costco and Best Buy today...a little shopping was on the agenda.  Steve took this picture as the sun was coming up...beautiful...


I had just started doing the dishes when Lucky called with an estimate on the graphics we wanted painted on the truck.  Steve was on the phone with him for quite awhile...and then I heard “I’ll have to talk it over with my wife and will call you right back”.  The paint job is going to cost more than we had anticipated (not that we had any idea how much it might cost in the first place).  We hummed and hawed about it and then finally gave in to the desire to have this fellow do the paint job...the work he does looks phenomenal!  Nothing but the best for “Buster”, the truck!  Steve called Lucky back with the news and arranged a date to have the work done.  We want to go to the RV Show in Quartzsite, AZ that starts January 21, so we will return to the Phoenix area after that.  The truck goes in January 30 and will likely take the better part of two weeks.

With that decision finalized...and the dishes done...we headed out.  Our first stop was at the Ranger’s Station in Mesa to get ATV permits.  The Buckhorn trail system is just to the north of us and we thought that we would take the quads out for a ride this Friday.  You have to get permits...which are free...to ride them.  The permit also includes lock codes to the gates.  That was easy enough...so now we were off to Costco.

Our main purpose in going to Costco was to order contact lenses for both of us.  When we were back in Sidney we had had our eyes checked and had asked for our lens prescription so that we could pick them up here where the cost is roughly half of what they are back in BC.  Well, wouldn’t you know it...they had given us a prescription for glasses, not contact lenses...sheesh!  So I guess I’ll have to email and see if they will scan and email the right prescription to us.  After paying for the grocery items and vitamins that I had picked up, it was time for lunch.  I think half of the population of Mesa had decided to go to Costco for lunch...and why not, especially if you are a retiree on a fixed income!!  Our lunch cost $4.45 for the both of us...not exactly the healthiest...but hey, it’s okay to have drinks, a hot dog (or huge slice of pizza) once in awhile!

Our next stop was Best Buy...Steve wanted to pick up a replacement lens filter and lens cap for his camera; and I wanted to look at a replacement ‘point-and-shoot’ camera.  He managed to find a cap that fit his camera but no filter...all they had were very inexpensive filters; he is after a higher quality one.  As far as cameras are concerned, there weren’t many left after the holiday season and Steve wanted to do a little more research on the models.  After checking out some tablets...I seem to have my heart set on an iPad2...we left Best Buy rather disappointed that they hadn’t had a better selection of camera lens filters.

After a quick stop at Walmart (across the street), it was time to head home...it was already after 3:00pm!  I quickly put the few groceries that we had picked up away and we headed off for a walk.  We took the trail to the Visitors Centre and decided to pop in to ask where the nearest laundry was.  We walked out with that info as well as a list of events in the park (surprised that we hadn’t received info at the park entrance when we arrived).  There is a bird-watching hike tomorrow morning at 10:00 that we thought we’d go on.  We also learned a little more about the vegetation difference between McDowell Mountain Regional Park and here...it is much denser here.  Apparently a fire went through McDowell Mountain about 30 years ago...full recovery can take up to 200 years so it is slowly recovering from that.

After enjoying a cocktail outside in the late afternoon sun, we headed inside.  I was a couple of days behind in posting our blog so I got that up-to-date while watching the evening news on TV.  I was going to do laundry tomorrow, but I think going on a hike sounds like much more fun!

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