I was recently reminded that I have not posted in a long time and it is not that I have had nothing to write about it is just that time seems to get away from me and I have been a bit lazy about it as well. I tend to write on Facebook and forget there are people out there that do not use it. Looking back on the blog it was the beginning of November the last time I posted anything. So will attempt to play catch up to the present.

The holidays were busy and a lot of fun. We celebrated Thanksgiving with a dinner shared with about 120 residents here in the park. We as the activities staff cooked turkeys, and gravy and everyone brought another element to the dinner. It was nice and a good time was had by all.

Shortly after Thanksgiving another of the workampers and I went to the Desert Museum in Tuscan for the day. It was a special day with Native American food demonstrations and a basketry sale. We got to sample many different foods and the baskets were so beautiful, but way above what my budget would allow so I just got a skirt and top to wear for the dances. The museum is a living exhibit of native plants and animals. They have cactus of all kinds, bird aviaries as well as a free flight raptor show which is amazing. We spent a long time in the hummingbird aviary just letting the birds fly around us. Debbie has an orange camera which also drew the birds to her as you can see in the picture.

I have since made another trip to the museum which I will do another post about later. Many more pictures.

Salmon to die for and as I have said before I never liked it.

Look for the hummer just in front and above the camera.

View of one of the many gardens.

A couple of the hawks with the trainer.

Then decorating got underway for Christmas. Seven trees were decorated and I lost count of the wreathes and stockings that were hung with care. And along came Christmas and another dinner was planned. We had about the same number of people again. Santa brought me a beautiful Pearl necklace, bracelet and earrings which I totally love. New Years came in with me awake and a wonderful night was had by all. We had a few nights when temps dropped into the high 20’s and days stayed in the 50’s, but that did not last long at all.

Fellow Activities Staff

We have had dances or shows every week and I have relearned to dance the waltz and with the help of our line dance instructors I have now mastered 5 of the dances to where I can do them without thinking about every step I take. My goal was 5 before I would buy my cowboy boots and now am sort of shopping for them, but not all that seriously yet.

Feb brought Valentines and although I did not have one to share the day with I was invited out for dinner with a group which I really enjoyed. I begged my boss to let me off for the dance that night as it was always a special holiday for Les and I that I did not want to have to sit there and watch the other couples that night. I still get teary eyed with I hear our song played by one or another of the groups and have left the room when I hear it. I will probably never dance to it with anyone else. It is hard to imagine that longer.

It is hard to believe I have been here 4 months today. Time is flying by and they have asked me to come back next winter.

Two weeks ago I went to the Gourd Festival with my friend Snookie on Saturday. Then on Sunday went up to Mesa to get together with 9 other ladies from my Women RV Forum. This Monday I went to the Renaissance Festival with my niece Ariana and her family. I will do separate posts for these as I have many pictures to post for each.

Just a sample of the beautiful gourds.

Then the next day I took off to Quartzsite, AZ which is the winter RV gathering ground for the winter snowbirds. There are about 3000 people in the summer swelling to about 100,000 in the winter most of which stay on Bureau of Land Management areas in the desert. I had another online friend who I wanted to meet and she had invited me to stay with her so off Duncan and I went to experience the boondocking lifestyle. People live in the desert with no water, electric or sewer hookup for up to 6 months of the year. Most have generators, some solar panels and they either drive into town to empty tanks and fill up with water or they pay to have someone come out to do this for them so they don’t have to move the entire winter. Jan/Feb brings in the largest RV show out here and other vendors for just about anything you could want along with huge rock vendors. I really could have gone crazy with the stones for jewelry, but just settled for a new chain to replace one I had broken. This was a major item on my bucket list so just had to go and experience it.

As you can see life has been busy with little down time this winter.