We had a very nice lunch today with a former classmate of Bob's, Barbara Sampier Swope and her friend chuck. Barbara's first husband was Bob's brother, Fred's, best friend in school (Joe Swope). It was very nice to visit with her and Chuck. They live here in Yuma in the winter and in Brookly/Grayling in the Summer.

Saturday, January 28, 2011 -- This is the scene out the back window of our trailer. Such a beautiful array (hope I spelled that right)of catcus plants. This blog should have a spell check to it.

Friday, January 27, 2011 -- We are in Winterhaven, CA. Very interesting - it is so close to Yuma, AZ that the campground goes on Mountain time zone, even thought we are in Pacific time zone.

The temperature here yesterday was 75 degrees, with a little breeze. Not that windy conditions we have had here. I finally got some sun.

As you will see and read we had a lot of fun yesterday.

This is Duke & Donna from British Columbia. We meant them last year in Ehrenberg, AZ. They are the ones that was looking for us to show up here in Winterhaven, CA and we didn't get her on time because of truck breakdown. So when I called to tell them we had broke down they came over the next day and brought the trailer over here. Which was about 15 miles apart.

Last night Duke & Donna rode with us and we met eight other couples at a Chinese Restaurant in Yuma. I don't normally do Chinese, but this restaurant had an assortment of food. Very good, had a great time.

Duke had arranged for entertainment during the "Happy Hour". These people are camped in the campground. Most of us hadn't meant them. Duke introduced them as a singers from Branson. LOL They are very good. Enjoyed the afternoon entertainment. Normally the happy hour starts at 3:00, but yesterday morning Duke told us to be at the Happy Hour at 2:00, he had something special.

This is our friends, Duke & Donna's dogs, Zoey and Mo. They are trained so well, these are their chairs. When you are sitting outside their trailer and they bring them outside the dogs jump up in their chair and they are all set. There is times if someone drops a snack on the ground they think they should get it. They are cute.

Really good day today. We got our truck back, it should be all fixed. I guess one never knows until you start pulling the trailer again.

Seeing we had wheels we went out to dinner. Our friends in the park told us about steak & shrimp dinner at the casino for $7.77. It was very good and the right price. They cater to the seniors. In fact, every day during the week (not weekends) they give anyone over 50 $10.00 on your card to play on the machine. We played after eating and came back with $32.00 more than what we took. I told Bob when we were there tonight that if they told all people to leave that is over 50 there wouldn't be anyone there except the workers. LOL

The weather was warm, but the winds were terrible so it didn't feel as warm as the temperature showed. We had Happy Hour with friends before going out to dinner.

We are now in Winterhaven, CA. Duke and Donna came to Yuma's campground and hooked up to our 5-wheel and moved us to Winterhaven, CA. So we are back on track for our reservations. We are only 10 miles west of Yuma, where the Chevy dealership is located.

The campground we are at is in California. The Mountain/Pacific time zone is divided at Colorado River (between Arizona/California border. The campground observes Mountain Time Zone. It seems everyone here does things in Yuma, so the campground uses the same time zone as Yuma. Interesting!!!

We enjoyed "Happy Hour" at Duke & Donna's patio starting with six of us and ending up with around 20. Duke & Donna are from British Columbia, Canada. There is a lot of Candians in the southwest.

We will be glad to get our truck back. Maybe it will be ready tomorrow or Thursday. Sure hope they get it fixed.

Monday, January 24, 2011 -- Well the truck went into a Chevy Dealership today. But it will be Thursday before they will have the parts and get it back to us.

We have had to stay an extra day at Yuma, AZ. We are suppose to be at Winterhaven, CA today. Called friends at Winterhaven to tell them we wouldn't be there until Thursday. They pull a 5-wheel trailer from Canada. He said he will pick up our trailer tomorrow morning and get us to Winterhave, CA where we have reservations. We were with them at two different campgrounds last year. Really nice people.

Actually Yuma, AZ and Winterhaven, CA are on the opposite sides of the Colorado River. He said he had been to the office at their campground to find out if we were going to be there. We had shared itineraries this past summer, so they knew that we should be there.

Oh well, these things happen. You just hate to have it happen on a trip.

Sunday, January 23, 2011 -- We made the trip from Goodyear, AZ to Yuma, AZ. An horrible trip. We were to take 1-1/2 to 2 hrs to drive and it took us 3-1/2 hrs.

The first picture is the welcome sign to Buckeye, AZ. Little did I know when I took this picture that there would be a story behind the picture. Buckeye, AZ, something like Columbus, OH. a Michigan vehicle passes thought isn't good. Little bit down the road we heard a noise. Pulled off the road and Bob checked the tires (which we didn't think it was a tire) and then raised the hood. Found a hose off the blower for the deasel engine. With this off you don't have power. Also found a bolt in one of the tires, he could hear a air leak -- so changed the tire and put the hose back together.

We drove quite awhile and it happened again. Got out and fixed the hose again. At this point we were trying to make it up an incline, of course it takes more power. It was just a little bit more and off it came. We were at the top of the hill on a bridge. So from there (last picture) we had mostly downhill and flat area. So going no more than 50miles a hr and me praying we would get to the campgound.

We did get to the campground yesterday.

"Welcome to Buckeye". Ya right!!!!

Okay, this is the view I had at out of the windowshield at one of the breakdown spots. Not a pretty sight.

This is the view from the top of the bridge where we were parked at at the last breakdown. It is a pretty view, but we could have viewed this while driving across instead of stopped. We were 12 miles from the exit to the campground. We drove around 50 miles an hour, very little climbing hills and a lot of praying that we'd hold together until we got there.

Saturday, January 22, 2011 - Another fun day with Fred & Kay Bush. We went to the Thoroughbred Races. Over the course of 7 races I lost $1.00. Biggest win was $11.40 on one race and that was a bet for show. Fun time

Went back to their house for dinner and sequence game. We ended our time with them with Kay and I winning again. That makes 3 nights of playing with Kay and I winning each night. So Fred isn't sure they will be in Arizona if we make the trip out here next year.

So after enjoying a very good time with Fred and Kay we leave here tomorrow for Yuma, Az.

What a great day we had today. The four of us drove to Sedona, AZ. Bob & I were there on one of the trips when we flew into Arizona, which was in 1995. Sedona is full of red rock and just beautiful. This area has changed a lot in the past 16 years, a lot more houses and retail stores. Still a beautiful place.

When we were there before I remember buying a "little" sweatsuit for a little guy. Yes it was 16 years ago. I can still see TJ wearing that outfit.

This was about a 1-1/2 to 2 hour drive. Conversation and the sights made it a very nice trip. Didn't actually seem that long.

I have included some of the pictures we took.

The write-up about the church we drove up into the mountain to see. Very nice. The view from up here was also beautiful.

We are driving up to this church built in the mountain.

Inside the church.

Beautiful mansion near the chapel. Sure would like to know who owns this house. Very very big.

Fred & Kay up by the chapel area.

This picture is taken up by the chapel of Bob & I.

Thursday, January 20, 2011 -- Had a great day today. Fred, Kay, Bob, & I went golfing today. Beautiful weather and we both feel we are getting use to our new golf clubs. I found the putting to be a problem today, but the the rest of the game was good. Who would want both parts to work good.

Went back to Fred & Kay's for dinner. Then to play sequence again. Well, Kay & I showed them how to play the game again. It was lots of fun.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011 -- As you will see by the following two pictures we drove out to Phoenix International Raceway. We were a little disappointed that we weren't able to see the track. They are doing some construction inside on the stands, you could get an actually tour, but we hadn't allowed time to do that.

We then went to our friends house (Sun City), Kay & Fred Bush for a lot of visiting, laughing, dinner, and play sequence game. This is only a 25 minute drive from our campground. We have something planned for each day that we are here. What fun!!!!

I am actually posting this on Thursday morning, didn't take time after getting home last night. Temperature here is very nice. Yesterday (Wednesday) was 72 degrees and today (Thursday) is to be 70 (little windy today. Then they say we are cooling down .... ya to 68, we can handle that too.

Off to the golf course today

Today was moving day. We moved from Casa Grande to Goodyear, AZ. It was only about one hour drive, that is nice. This is one of the suburbs of Phoenix, located in the southwest area of Phoenix.

We will be spending time with friends of ours that lives in Sun City for the next five days. Bob & I worked with Fred Bush at A & L Parts. So it is fun to go golfing and sightseeing with him & Kay. They live here for about five-six months and then back in Michigan.

Had a great day today. We celebrated our 46th wedding anniversary. Sure was different weather today here than it was on our wedding day. It was a cold and snowy day in Michigan in 1965, here it was 75 degrees and sunny.

We enjoyed a afternoon at the casino. Bob was very lucky and we came home with $1.21 more than what we took. Then went to eat at Texas Longhorn. Very good, the waiter there served us ice cream sundaes and announced it was our 46th anniversary. Cheers for us. Very nice.

Saturday, January 15, 2011 -- We went to the Casa Grande Street Fair and car show today. They had a lot of exhibitors, I believe it was advertised as 200 exhibitors. Some very pretty cars from years ago. Old cars -- OMG they are from when we were in school, LOL -- plus older. They had a car just like Bob & Fred had when in school, 1955 Chevy two-tone green & white paint.

It was a very pretty day for the Street Fair. We had shorts and I wore sandles. The weather says it is 72 and sunny. I believe it. So that is it for today. Having spare ribs for dinner.

Aren't these pretty. These are for our 46th wedding anniversary, which is tomorrow. Bob thought these were a good investment. They are made of wood, he can re-give these each year. LOL They are very pretty.

Friday, January 14, 2011 -- Went for our walk in the 350 trailer park. That takes awhile. Went to the movie and seen "The Dilemma" in the evening. It was very good and a lot of laughter in the theater. Nice time.

Had a wonderful golf day today. We haven't heard what the temperature got to today, but it was forecast to be 69 degrees. Went to the same course we went to on Sunday. Golfed with a couple from Minnesota. The sunsets around 5:30 and it is sweatshirt weather before that time. Took the following pictures. Tee time was 1:40. When golfing with other people it is hard to take pictures. Green fairway and desert rough.

Anxious for the U of M football season to begin with our new coach, Brady Hoke.

While we were out and about we seen a guy with a Detroit Tigers shirt. Ask him if he was from Michgian. He said yes, Lansing. Where were we from, said Ann Arbor. He mentioned something about football. Bob told him we got a new coach, he said we really liked the coach you had and were disappointed when he got fired. I said "I bet you were".

We went to Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. Pictures to follow after to follow. These were the Hohokam community. Some indian tribes are decendence of this community. Still trying to sort out some of the information, but the tour person said it goes back to 300 (common Era) and disbanding around 1400.

We were never into ruins, but it was interesting.

This has a cover over the top to help preserve the ruins.

I really like catcus plants. Even though this is two catcus plants, they are big.

We are enjoying the weather here in Arizona. Again in the low 60's. Tonight we talked to my cousin in Atlanta. They are socked in with snow, snow, snow, and ice. They have even closed route 75 too. By the map it looks like Michigan will escape the snowy weather again.

Real good news tonight from Home. Jessica Mason (Laura's daughter) has made the girls 8th grade basketball team at Lincoln. She has been playing organized basketball since she was young. We are very proud of her. Good job Jessica!!!! Also, Barbara Jean (Sheri's daughter) is a 8th grade cheerleader and she will be cheering for the girls basketball too.

Interesting, just realized yesterday's posting appears to be Sunday. It was actually 10:30 on Saturday night here. But being it is set up from home it shows up as 12:30 Eastern Standard Time. Didn't think about that happening.

So this is Sunday. Had a great day. We went golfing at a real nice golf course. We golfed with a couple from Wyoming. They were very nice. It was interesting golfing with these new clubs. I had taken the camera, but considering we were golfing with another couple I didn't take pictures. The rough in desert courses is very brown, with the fairway being very green. Actually quite beautiful.

Had a beautiful day. Temperature 61 degrees, no breeze so it felt good. There was patio yard sales today. Nice walk around the park talking to people. (good exercise). We took our golf clubs and went to the driving range. First time either of us had hit with these new clubs after the theft in October.

Went to the movie tonight. Seen Country Strong with Tim McGraw. This was a great show.

Our campground resorts has a closed gate as of 7:00 p.m. You have to enter a code in order to get inside after that time. Really nice to know that only those that are staying here can get in during the night. We are in a very good area, but this is just the membership resort security.

Bob hadn't ordered his new glasses since seeing the eye doctor before Christmas. He had read he could get almost free glasses with our BCBS/Medicare plus insurance after the first of the year. So we looked up a eye doctor's office to get his new glasses. They will have them in 3 days to one week.

While driving around we found the golf course that we had a coupon for; pay for 1 and 1/2 for the other. Beautiful golf course, green fairway and brown rough. We have a tee time for Sunday. Looking forward to getting out on the golf course. Seeing neither of us has used our new clubs, after having to replace the old ones from the theft, we are going tomorrow to driving range.

We came back and sat outside at our trailer in the sun, beautiful weather. Still in the low to mid 60's. That is great!!!

Today was laundry day, that isn't fun. But otherwise it has been a nice day. Little cloudy for Arizona, but the sun shines at times. The temperature has been in the low 60's.

While at the laundry here in the park, we sat outside in the area that the pool is located. This is a big patio area too. There was actually women in the pool exercising to music. Not a bad idea, but low 60's, I don't think so!!! They said it was warm water, just don't stand up in the air. LOL

Today we went driving around for awhile. We have seen so many cotton fields across Texas and now in Arizona too. You always think of cotton in the south from us, but don't realize it is grown out west too.

Bob has wanted to go into a field and take a stalk. This is already picked cotton, just never gets picked clean. So we stop and he drives into a lane, he classified it as a dirt drive. Gets out and goes across a "log" that has been laid down across a ditch (no I don't think it was for people like him). Picks the cotton and crosses the ditch again. My feelings was thank goodness he has made it back across this log. Now he starts to move the truck. My thinking, he will back out of where he drove into. Oh no, he tries to turn around, soft dirt, has to put the truck in four wheel drive. Phew, we made it!!!!

Here is the "cotton picker".

This is walking back from the cotton field. He is crossing a log that was put across the ditch type area.

January 4, 2011

We arrived in Casa Grande, AZ. We are staying in a very nice campground resort. We only had a 120 mile drive from our previous campground. We are here for two weeks. When we got here it was 61 degrees and sunny. Our patio is in the sun all day, nice setting.

We drove 1898 miles since leaving home. Of course that includes not only the drive here, but the driving from the campgrounds to sighseeing, to get fuel after parking, and to eat out. Normally by the time you make the drive each day, you just want to eat and relax for the night.

It was nice on our way today to receive a phone call from Jr & Luanne. The girls and grandchildren have called and texted. We remember when Mom & Dad Winkle was in Florida for three months and between Jr's and us we got a phone call once a week. Thank goodness for cell phones and computers.

This and the next pictures were taken in New Mexico. Temperature there were around 45 degrees about noon. We were surprised to see snow on the ground, not unusual to see it on the mountains.

We don't like to see snow, but the snow on the mountain is very pretty.

We are in ARIZONA. We move tomorrow morning to the resort in Casa Grande and we are there for two weeks. We are ready to stay put.

We arrived at Benson, AZ around 2:00 and it was 61 degrees and sunny.

We have arrived in Van Horn, Tx, which is in the western part of Texas. We are 140 miles from El Paso (border of Texas/New Mexico). We stayed in this same campground last year coming and going. We are only here for one night and then move on to Arizona.

We left Abilene, TX this morning. When we left we were seeing cotton fields, then to oil fields, then refineries, then mountains. (mountains aren't as big as Arizonas.

The two pictures are from route #20 at the overpast at Pecos, TX. Very nicely done.

Because we are mostly in areas we were last year, there isn't many pictures taken. Starting Tuesday we will be in different areas.

Here we are starting another New Year. Where did 2010 go?

We stayed in Abilene, TX to watch the bowl games today. Ok, it was a mistake. Maybe Michigan and Michigan State would have won if we hadn't have watched the game. Ok, it probably wouldn't have made a difference.

So we leave in the morning for Van Horn, TX. This is about 330 miles from here. Going about 62-65 miles an hour that is far enough.