Saturday, November 29, 2014

Talking RVing with Pat

We have become friends with Pat who is a workamper here at Mesa Regal.  She is working on her itinerary for when she leaves Arizona and came over for suggestions of places to visit.

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She made a notebook with dividers for each state or area of the country and then adds notes pertaining to that place.

We’ve enjoyed being with Pat during our stay here in Mesa Regal and hope to see her on the road.

Remember, you are loved.
Read the story behind this saying HERE

Friday, November 28, 2014

Last activities at Mesa, AZ

Our time here in Mesa is coming to an end….we leave here Sunday, day after tomorrow.  That being said, I need to have a “wrap up” blog post to get in all the things we did last week.

The day after going to the Hall of Flame we met Mike and Sandy Bubar Tuesday at Baby Kay’s Cajun Kitchen here in Mesa. The Bubars recently were at Betty’s RV Park in Abbeville, Louisiana (our absolutely favorite RV park).  We haven’t eaten any Cajun food since last March so we agreed with their choice.  The food was pretty authentic, but still not as good as Shucks, Bon Creole, Villager or DuPuys in the Abbeville neck of the woods.  We all had the shrimp po’boy and seafood gumbo with homemade potato chips.  Very tasty.

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Wednesday we invited the folks over from the neighboring three RVs for one of Jim’s now famous bacon-wrapped, corn bread stuffed pork tenderloin. The weather has been sooo nice and we were able to everyone outside.

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As usual, Jim’s cooking ability shined through as seen by the finished product.  It was a hit.

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Thursday we drove to Casa Grande with the Bubars to see four other members of the Escapees RV Club’s Class 2007 (folks who went fulltime rving in 2007).  Trish Schmidt and Dave and Kathy Bennett have bought lots there and Marty Cassidy has been visiting there…time for a mini reunion of sorts. Oh, it was lovely, just lovely to see them all again.

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We went to Café de Manuel in town and had a delicious lunch together.

Casa Grande

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We had such a wonderful time together and it was so enjoyable…especially Dave and I bantering back and forth.

Friday Jim and I drove to University of Phoenix Stadium to check out the RV show. We didn’t know they were all from La Mesa RV and that there weren’t any used rigs as was advertised. But it did give us a chance to see inside the stadium where the Cardinals play. 

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The neatest thing was going outside to look at some rigs and there was the football field sod/grass outside getting some sun and being watered.  What a sight you don’t get to see every day!!!  It gets rolled in and out on rails throughout the stadium floor.

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Saturday we had The Harpers and new friends, The Hewetts over for a fajita lunch…Kenny Harper wanted to see how to use the disco Teddy Abeyta gave me for a past birthday. 

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These next photos I swiped from The Harpers blog RV Life is Good cause I forgot to take any photos.

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Well that has been our week.  More tomorrow about Thanksgiving.

Remember, you are loved.

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Jim’s Birthday 2014

Both of Jim’s brothers and their wives came down to the Phoenix area to spend Thanksgiving in their condos.  Yesterday was Jim’s 65th birthday (yah Medicare) and Don and Ron took him/us out to dinner to celebrate. 

We met the family at their condos…they are close by to each other…to see them for the first time.  We were very impressed and happy for them to have a place to get away from the extremely cold weather of Alamosa, Colorado.

We went to Arrowhead Grill for dinner and it was fabulous, marvelous, terrific!!!! 

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To be honest, we’ve never eaten in such a posh place before and it was quite an experience. 

We lived it up with drinks and appetizers

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We had calamari


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and small but succulent raw oysters advertised to have a “mineral finish”

The prices were staggering IMHO with every item a la carte but everyone raved about their meals and how everything was so flavorful and tasty.

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Several had the swordfish
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while Jim had a prime rib.  That’s suppose to be 10 oz. but looks bigger.
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I had the chicken (whole) carved at table side.
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Even the platting was exquisite.

The evening was finished off with Jim being presented Arrowhead Grill’s famous butter cake served with ice cream and chocolate syrup complete with a flaming shooting rocket.

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Even the leftovers were specially boxed in lined personalized boxes with the name of food inside and the date.

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Oh, oh, almost forgot to show you the funny birthday card Cindy (Ron’s wife) gave Jim…..you are going to laaaugh!!!!

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A big, big, big thank you

to Ron, Cindy, Don and Debbie for your company, the generous dinner and for sharing Jim’s birthday with you.  We had such a good time!!! It was a wonderful, wonderful evening of great food, family and laughter…..memorable.

Remember, you are loved (too).

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Latest Activities in Mesa

One of my personal mottos or mantras is “people are more important than things”. So our rig is a little dusty and the laundry piled up a bit, but we’ve been having a great time with friends and making memories for a lifetime.  Going out to lunch with friends or meeting folks for happy hour is more important than polishing the cabinets or writing a blog post.  So be it.

We met Angela and Kenny at Waldo’s BBQ for lunch one day. 

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It’s a quirky place with “interesting” décor. 

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This pretty piece is anchored to the ceiling.

 

 

 

Wow, it certainly lived up the Yelp rating. The other three had the brisket or pulled pork sandwiches, but I got the super sampler platter with ribs, brisket, pulled beef and pulled pork (yes, I took most of it home).

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Here at Mesa Regal they have a monthly manager’s happy hour where the beer flows for 25 cents a glass.  Boy does that bring out the troops.

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We also revisited the Hall of Flame Fire Museum in Phoenix.  We originally went there, I think, in December 2007.  I’ve just spent the last hour going through past blog posts trying to find out when we went there originally and I can’t find anything.  I know we went there but can’t find out when….another good reason to write down your activities in an actual calendar so you can go back and check out things….I do that now.

This is a wonderful fire museum.  One of the top in the country…another great one is Oklahoma Firefighters Museum in Oklahoma City.

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Early pumper
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Ornate very early rig
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Collection of helmets and fire trumpets
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Fancy-dancy fire truck still used in parades today
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Early ladder truck
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Some of the 30+ panels of fire badges from all over the world
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Fire dispatching center of old. There is a speaker broadcasting live radio traffic from the Phoenix Fire Department.
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This switchboard was used from 1927 to early 1970s…imagine
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Many rigs were ornate for show

Jim found the badge from Alamosa Fire Department on one of the many panels.

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We’ve enjoyed several happy hours with neighbors.  Finally having a social life and meeting folks just when we are about to leave….dang!!!

I’ll finish up with our activities tomorrow.  But till then, remember you are loved.