No fun with the wind today, so we head inside

Blooming Ocotillo

Today had two halves. The first half was pretty and calm, the second half was gale force winds, a sky full of dirt and dust.
 When you live in the desert you learn that the only thing available to block the wind is a little barbed wire. The wind whipped up dust and dirt to the extent that it blocked out the view of the surrounding mountain ranges.
This morning I was up about 7 a.m. and did a quick work out in the fitness center before taking care of a couple chores for Joan.  One of those chores was picking up some stamps at the resort post office.

While I was out I picked up a get well card for one of the men in the Bible Study group here and stopped by his home to see how he was doing after he suffered a mild heart attack last week. Neil is an interesting and inspiring guy, having lost his arm when he was 12-years-old.

A blooming cholla

Neil told us that losing his arm was the “best thing” that ever happened to him.  He uses his obvious disability as a way to talk to people about his faith and his possibilities. Neil is a general aviation pilot and he flies to Arizona from New York every winter. On the weekends he flies his airplane and gives rides to youngsters who would otherwise not have such an experience.

I spent just a few minutes at his home and left behind a get well card with a note that I hoped encouraged him.

What is really interesting here is to see the changes in the season that occur even in the desert. One of the plants that I really enjoy looking at is the ocotillo (pronounced Oak-o-tee-o). When we first arrived here they looked like dead sticks with thorns on them. Now they are covered with green leaves and beautiful flowers. Many cactus and other plants are currently in bloom here.

Dust in the winds and no mountain views today

As I walked through the resort this morning I took a couple photos of the flowering plants.

Next month, after we are gone, the tall Saguaro cactus will be in bloom, but I guess I’ll have to see that in pictures.

With the wind picking up and outside activities out of the question today, Joan asked if I would take her to the local Native American gambling establishment for a little afternoon recreation. We spent about three hours and left behind less than $25 so not a bad day at the casino.

We headed back to the trailer and continued our progress on cleaning out our food supplies before we head home. We finished the leftover pizza from last week’s visit to Peter Piper Pizza and Joan finished up some of the cold cuts we had on hand. As we wind down we try to make sure we don’t waste food.



An empty RV section

More and more folks are leaving the park every day and entire sections of the short term RV parking areas are now completely empty. Others have more empty spaces than full ones.

Tomorrow morning I have to get up really early for the Men’s Prayer Breakfast here at the resort and tomorrow night we are going to dinner with our Michigan friend Greg’s daughter who is a school teacher in nearby Phoenix. We are meeting her half way in Casa Grande for dinner. We had dinner with her and her boyfriend when we first got here and wanted to see her again before we headed home next week.