Virgil and Nancy

We tagged along with our new friends Virgil and Nancy on a tour of the Caywood Farm.  A little guitar and fiddle music led into a well-crafted PowerPoint presentation about cotton from field preparation, seed planting, boll harvesting, ginning and beyond. A hay ride through the cotton fields past old migrant worker housing took us to a demonstration of the cotton picker and module builder.  We were given an opportunity to pick squares (the flower buds), any remaining pale yellow flowers (yes, I even found one), and cotton bolls.  Our return ride skirted their alfalfa fields. 

At the conclusion of the tour Chris purchased CDs of the wonderful music the family produced that had a definite blue-grass flavor.  Our taste buds were then treated to the flavors of our choice at the Cracker Barrel.  Wonderful day with great company!

It was nice to digitally connect with the family in Washington and Skype a holiday "hello" with grandson Kyren.

We had to pinch ourselves that we were actually eating our turkey dinner with all the trimmings for $5.00 at the clubhouse.  It took no convincing to take a swim in the pool in the evening after a record-breaking 87 degree day.  I managed to take a picture of Chris in the pool to fulfill his goal of swimming on Thanksgiving and emailing that photo to the kids!  Next photo session goal will be on Christmas Day.

We then made our way back to the motorhome to watch the Seahawks earn a victory over the San Francisco 49ers.  A very different, but thoroughally pleasant Thanksgiving!

Well, Chris finally got out the new barbecue and cooked some delicious chicken thighs to go along with our tossed salad.  That all sounds healthy until you know that we had Black Forest cake for dessert while watching television in the evening.  Sort of cancels out the exercise and swimming Chris did earlier in the day!

 We celebrated a Seahawk win over the Cardinals by going out to dinner at the Olive Garden with our neighbors who were relieved that their Broncos had overcome the Dolphins.  Three members of the group were anticipating their parachute jump that would take place Monday!  We will be staying close to the ground!!

This morning, with Georgia along for the ride, we retraced our previous route to Tucson toward  the Saguaro National Park East which prompted memories of having taken the kids to this park when we car-tripped the southwest 19 years ago. We watched an informative video, walked the grounds, and then drove the loop with a stop at a picnic area on a dirt side road. Felt like we were on a western film set but no Cowboys, Indians or Cavalry came charging through hills dodging the prickly sentinels.

The chef is back on site and served roast pork loin with salad, red potatoes, carrots, and cake for Saturday’s evening meal.

Finally able to watch two home team sporting event telecasts: Washington Huskies beaten by Arizona Wildcats, and Seattle Seahawks overcome by the Kansas City Chiefs. Good thing Arizona Cardinals weren’t playing on the same time schedule this week. Next week we are pretty assured of seeing the matchup between Seattle and Arizona!

We are experiencing wind in the desert, although nothing like the wind storms that ravaged home a few days ago but we did have our own downed tree!!

We will call this our “War and Peace” Day.

Today’s adventure begins at the Titan Missile Museum just south of Tucson.  The tour kicked off with a video about the need during the Cold War era for nuclear deterrents.  Then our guide briefed us about what we would see, issued hard hats to those over 5’10”, and led us out to the above-ground area and then the entrance to the silo.  We braved the 50-stair descent but there was an elevator for those who needed that assist.  We were most fortunate to have a guide who had been one of the crew members during deployment.  He gave us anecdotal tales of what transpired from the moment they entered the grounds and passed through the coded safeguards for entry, the jobs of each of the four crew members on a shift in the control room and in the crew rest area, their feelings about SAC, and the procedures for fueling and repairing the apparatus.  I was selected to demonstrate how easily the 6000 pound cement and steel entry door would swing on its giant hinges with just one hand!  Everything in this underground complex is supported with gigantic coiled springs that continue to pass the test of weight, stress and time.  Cutaways allowed an impressive viewing of the actual missile on the control room level.

Back topside we were able to view the “old school” protective radar motion sensors, the missile from the observation deck above the silo, the first and second stage rockets and the fueling station.  It was an impressive reminder of a part of history we had survived with only air-raid Wednesdays and school basement drills as lingering childhood memories. 

Nearby was the Xavier del Bac Mission standing out in the desert terrain like bling on burlap. This is an active Franciscan mission called the “Sistine Chapel of North America” located on the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation. The alabaster structure built in 1696, has a small museum tracing its history and a video delineating the intricate six year process undertaken by worldwide artists to restore the interior of the magnificent structure.

A stop at Camping World in Tucson preceded our return home to meet Jo and Alan McDonald who had stopped for a quick visit. They had returned from visiting his sister in Tucson to retrieve their new truck (getting repaired from a collision they endured last week) and freeing their trailer from the resort storage lot before heading south again.

Drove past pecan groves and cotton fields toward the town of Florence, AZ, where one of our favorite movies, Murphy's Romance, with James Garner and Sally Fields was filmed in 1985.  We located the building that served as the movie drugstore, a True-Value Hardware store they dressed up to be a movie theater and the American Legion hall where the bingo sequence was shot.  There is still a lone tree between the street and sidewalk that the movie company planted for the storyline.  James Garner's character insisted that it be positioned in front of his drugstore in place of a parking meter.  Unfortunately, the house they used burned several years ago. 

Toured the Florence Visitor Center/Museum that included a sheriff’s office and court house.  In the courthouse was a display recognizing that Florence had been the location of a  POW camp during WWII for Germans and Italians.  As we walked along the street we came to a small museum celebrating Arizona Rangers.  Ranger Captain Rowe Gilbert regaled us with wonderful tales and displayed “cowboy” memorabilia including holsters he had crafted out of leather to replicate the ones used by Gene Autry, Clayton Moore, and others. 

Our Sam’s Club shopping was abruptly cut short by a call from the RV washing crew who had arrived 3 hours earlier than expected.  We put back our few items and headed back to make sure the car could get cleaned, too.

Felt badly for those at home suffering with a cold snap and windstorm resulting in power outages as we ended our warm evening with a viewing of “Blended” with Sandler/Barrymore at the clubhouse.

Well, we have “resided” in Casa Grande, AZ, for a full week.  Electrical issues have been solved by RV Medic, Chris got a much needed haircut, I made the mistake of coloring my own hair (I should have stayed with the skunk pattern until I could find a salon), and we have reconnoitered the area and found a western clothing store where Chris got a new shirt, a ranch feed store that carries Georgia’s brand of dog food, a mall and a Cracker Barrel where we enjoyed a down home southern breakfast.  The appointment has been made for Tuesday for folks to come in and “groom” the RV and Forester.  It will be nice to have them shine in this glorious sun.  It is still mind boggling to see Christmas commercials on television and yet be in the middle of 80⁰ summer weather.  The only way you can tell it is autumn is the early timing of sunset.  I also wonder how long it will take me to get used to television schedules of this Central Time Zone and figure out game times of sporting events. 

We took an evening dog-walk when Jo and Alan McDonald arrived on November 7, and did some cursory catching up after all of these years.  A lot of water passes under the bridges of your life when you go your separate ways out of high school/college.  You quickly find that the “good old days” weren’t any sweeter than the current “old days”.  Saturday we visited with them at the dog park, enjoyed more conversation on our patio before dinner and then continued in the hot tub.  Jo and Alan are leaving Monday, and summarizing 42 years plus talk of RV adventures and dog stories poses challenges, but what remains unsaid will provide the impetus for future meetings along the road!!

Saturday morning (11-8) we were awakened by the whooshing and hissing of hot air balloons and a motorized para-glider.  On this anniversary of my departed friend Marilyn Valentine’s birthday, these giant orbs served as a nice reminder of a balloon excursion we shared in Auburn many years past.

RV viewed from Dog Park.

Tried to get the lay of the land in our new surroundings for shopping and greatly-needed hair management!  The expansiveness of the desert tends to let them spread things far and wide, so we never did find the main part of the city, but did manage to do some shopping at a huge Fry’s Club Market.  We have gathered better directions, have plenty of time to explore and it doesn’t take much to fill our fridge and cupboards!

It took me forever as a child to figure out daylight savings time and now I am temporarily residing in a state that doesn’t practice it!  While everyone back in Washington was turning back their clocks, I am trying to get used to being on Mountain Time.  We get some antenna-delivered television stations but the time schedule will be tricky for a while.  Phone contact with Sandy apprised me of the time and network for the Seahawks game, however, we seem to be closer to Denver and the Bronco game against the Patriots trumped the Seahawks!   

It is remarkable that it can be November and we are still experiencing summer.  Because of our electrical dysfunction we have not attempted to use our air-conditioners in fear of causing further damage to essential components, so we are hoping for a decline in temperatures.  The forecast for this area is for slightly lowering temperatures and increasing wind.  The wind definitely buffeted us as we traveled the 192 mile last leg of our initial adventure to Casa Grande, AZ, today. 

The Casa Grande RV Resort was extremely welcoming and we quickly established ourselves in site 175.  There might not be a river, but we requested our site because of its proximity to the dog park which is large enough for great off-leash romps across lush grass, dirt and even a bit of mud!   Georgia is pleased.

Making friends is effortless in this park.  We were invited to a large gathering two motorhomes away and became aquainted with John & Chris and Nancy and Virgil.  And this sure is a small world; one of the first people I met earlier in the day turned out to be the grandmother of twin boys who for the past 4 years had attended the school in Auburn, WA, where I was the librarian.