Lake Pleasant, Phoenix

Sunday, Nov 27th

View out our front window.

Grey Cup Day. But first it was time to do our shopping as we are back to civilization and there is a Costco about 20 minutes away. With the end of the American Thanksgiving Week the whole place cleared out. (all the dry camping areas anyways) Nice for us. The stores and traffic were not too bad either. We did see the highway sign on the way back that said congestion ahead ... traffic incident but fortunately it was ten miles after our turn-off so did not affect us.

With it being so much quieter we here, the donkey's and coyotes every night running right by the coach. We know for sure that the donkey's are here ... lot's of deposits and Ray actually heard running feet of the coyote outside his window. It certainly unsettles Freya every morning around 3:30 a.m.!

After storing my groceries it was time to create Ray's game time feast. He sure enjoys it when I create food for him. We had a great time munching away while watching the game. (I mostly read as it is not really my thing.)

As the day progressed it was back to heavy cloud and wind. Unfortunately during the game a storm cell came over and it just poured with thunder, lightening and wind. We had to put the dish down for about 20 minutes. Fortunately it happened just before half time so Ray did not miss much of the game and earlier we had been recording the game at the same time so that when Ray walked the dog he could catch up. By the time he watched the recorded portion and we could put the satellite dish back up the half time show was just finishing. Freya sure did not like the storm though ... spent 1/2 hour on Ray's lap.

Monday we woke up to sunny skies but cool although by the late afternoon the clouds came in again. After making some calls to firm up our December plans, we've decided to stay here at Lake Pleasant for a week. Nice to have access to a hot tub. But of course with Ray's luck they just shut it down today for heater repairs so hopefully it will be fixed by tomorrow. Found this out after we paid for the rest of the week. Now that we are parked for awhile, it was time to start this year's Christmas Craft Project. (Last year I made felt Christmas trees for wine bottles.) I pick projects that I can use my sewing machine as it was my Christmas Present last year from Ray's mom. I love having it for mending as well. Two more days until December 1st and then the Christmas decorations will be set up.

Ruler, check, material, check, instructions, check and oh yeah beer, CHECK! Now I am ready to begin this year's Christmas Craft.

View from our campsite looking North

View looking South

OMG Dad, a boat launch that actually goes into the water!

November 29th

Tuesday another stunning sunny morning listening to Global BC talking about another rain storm! Gotta love it that we are missing all that rain. 55 days of it in the last 2 months. Yikes. Ray is out first thing trying to get some pictures of the donkey's. Freya heard them bray on their walk earlier this morning and ran 50 feet behind Ray. Some protection!

The culprits making all of the noise! A short distance above our campsite.

Tuesday afternoon I drove up to Anthem to the Walmart Supercenter to get my hair cut and pedicure so I do not have to worry about getting it done at Christmas. This store is located about 20 minutes north of Lake Pleasant so not too far to go. There is also an Outlet Mall located a block away from the Walmart. Ray and I will have to check it out on another day. It is nice not having to go into Phoenix proper and avoid all of the traffic.

November 30th - December 2nd

We have been puttering around, catching up with inside stuff (cleaning) I finished my Christmas Craft Project .... the finished product will be shown after Christmas as I do not want to spoil the surprise for the recipients! Ray and I have been making use of the hot tub and showers every afternoon and enjoying the sunsets from the pool. It has been lovely to slow down as we have been pretty busy trying to see things since we left BC before it got too cold in higher elevations.

Thursday, Dec 1, we decided to take a drive to the Cave Creek Regional Park and McDowell Mountain Regional Park to check out their camping options. A lovely drive but McDowell is kind of in the middle of nowhere. Both parks have sites big enough for our size. Both are $30/night for 50 amp and water and $20 for no services. It is a better deal at Lake Pleasant at $15/night. After we visited McDowell it was time for lunch. We decided to try a brew pub called Gordon Biersch Brew Pub with German style craft beer.  The beer was good but the food was excellent. A definite "I would go again"! You cannot tell by the picture but Freya was on her mat at our feet as well.

Lobster and Shrimp taco's for Ray and I had two appies, mussels and asian chicken bites. We shared so we both had a little of everything while we sampled 7 of their beer.


Tuesday the plan is to move to the Mesa area and stay at a Passport America RV park for a week to partake in a bunch of Christmas Festivities we have selected to attend.  I will put up our Christmas decorations at that time too. There are a few "moves" planned after that, a week at Lost Dutchman State Park and next, 3 days at Queen Valley to visit friends and then 10 days in Casa Grande to spend Christmas and New Year's with some other friends. A very busy time of year but it sure will put us in the Christmas Spirit.

Friday night the wind woke me up at 11 pm. Wow it sure blew. I went outside at 1 am to make sure nothing was blowing away and put our water jugs on top of our folded up mat. Still awake at 2 am and heard an odd noise at the back of the coach. I went outside again to look and the ladders were barely hanging on the hanger so had to get Ray up to get them off the coach. They had not been tied down as he has been going up on the roof periodically and dusting off the solar panels. Finally at 2:30 I put in ear plugs and managed 3 hours more sleep. With Ray taking his sleeping medication at night he hears nothing! It used to be me that slept like the dead and he was a light sleeper ... not any more. With his back pain he needs a decent nights sleep so I cannot complain for all the years he let me sleep.