Latest Happenings

Today has been a cloudy, cool, and rainy day. It got up to 63 degrees, and sounds like tomorrow is going to be about the same. Yesterday was a beautiful day and got up to 78 degrees. Was almost tempted to get the shorts out!

Last Friday Dave and Jan Legaard and us went up to Mesa to the big swap meet (flea market). We didn’t get all the way through it, but found lots of bargains – didn’t we, Jan! There were so many vendors and some good prices also. Larry and I hope to get up there in February and check it out again. After spending all our money (Ha,Ha), we went to Harry and Sue Foster’s home. Then the six of us went out to lunch. Wanting to get some fresh oranges, Harry and Sue took us to an orchard close by and we loaded up with oranges and grapefruits. Then we headed back to Casa Grande.

Yesterday morning Dave, Jan, and Ishe loaded up their fifth wheel and headed towards Missouri. We sure hated to see them leave also. We had a great time camping with them and doing things together, mainly eating at buffets (ha)! We have been having “buffet” withdrawals since they left! Dave and Jan, thanks for the good times and have a safe trip back to Missouri!

Today we went up to Gilbert, which is a suburb of Phoenix, to visit Cheryl Simms, who used to live in Smithville with her husband, John. After John passed away, she moved away to Springfield, MO and then to Phoenix area. She has a lovely beautiful home in a gated community. We hadn’t seen Cheryl in about four years and it was great to spend the day with her. Cheryl was born and raised in the Phoenix area and has a sister who still lives there with her family. We had a really good visit and hope to get
together with her again before we head back home.

Well, that is about all of our happenings this week. We are looking forward to Bob and Judy being back here, probably by Tuesday night. Hope the weather has started to warm up for you back in the Midwest.

Happy Birthday Traci and Gena Kaye!!!

Smithville Reunion

This was written Wednesday, January 23, 2008.

The past few days have been so much fun that I haven’t taken time to blog. We have been having a “Smithville Reunion” this week. Ron and Jan Ford came Saturday afternoon (1/18/08) and Dave and Jan Legaard got here Sunday evening. Ron and Jan stayed with us and Dave and Jan had their fifth wheel camper with them.

Last Saturday morning Larry and I went to the Annual Casa Grande Street Fair. There was a Classic Car and PU Show, antique motorcycles and tractors, craft booths, and food court booths. There must have been 60 to 70 cars and PUs in the show. It was held in the streets of the old part of Casa Grande. The day was cool and sunny, but by mid-afternoon it had warmed up nicely. Jan and Ron got here Saturday afternoon about 3:30 or so. Larry grilled some hamburgers and we enjoyed an evening of visiting.

Sunday after breakfast we took a walk around showing Ron and Jan the RV Park. Then we took them down to the Street Fair and walked through the Craft Fair booths and food court. By the time we got back to the camper, the play-off games had started. We all sat around and watched the games and had popcorn. That evening about 8:30 came a knock at the door! Lo and behold – the Legaard’s had finally made it!!! It only took them 11 days to get here!!! They came in and we visited for an hour or so.

Monday Harry and Sue Foster came down from Mesa. We four couples loaded up and headed to Eloy, where the skydivers were. It was a clear day and perfect for viewing skydivers. Everyone enjoyed watching the sky divers. One of the sky divers who jumped several times was an amputee whose legs had been amputated just above the knees. He was so good at it. We just marveled at the way he landed so gracefully. A hot air balloon was also launched from the area and the men (being men) went over close to the hot air balloon to watch and try to figure out how everything is done. Ha! While there we went inside a building where people can go inside a wind chamber and experience skydiving without having to jump out of an airplane. There are seats around the outside of the wind chamber where you can just watch the people trying their skills at free falling. It only cost $50 for 2 minutes!!! It was interesting to watch the jumpers. We also watched some sky diving teams as they practiced their formations in the wind chamber. After getting back to Casa Grande, we ate dinner at the Golden Corral before going to the RV Park. Another enjoyable day filled with lots of fun and laughs.

Tuesday Pat and Woody Green came down from Phoenix area for a day of visiting. They are staying in Phoenix area for a couple of months. Had a nice day of visiting and, of course, eating! After eating lunch at a bar and grill, we all came back to our camper for more visiting and more eating. Woody had celebrated a birthday on January 2 so Dave and Jan had bought a birthday cake and ice cream so we celebrated a belated birthday for Woody. About 8:30 that evening Pat and Woody headed back to Phoenix. It was so good to see them again. We hope to get together with them again sometime before we head back to Missouri.

This morning Ron and Jan Ford took us out to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. After a delicious breakfast we came back to the park and Ron and Jan loaded their car and headed to Jan’s sisters in Bakersfield, CA for a few days. We hated to see them go. It was so much fun having them stay with us. We teased Jan that we were going to miss our maid!

We extend our deepest sympathy to you in the Midwest suffering from the deep freeze! We will try to send some warmer weather your way. The weather out here is pretty cool of a morning but once the sun rises it keeps warming up until about 4:30 and then it begins cooling back down. It has been getting up in the high 60’s during the day and the 30’s during the night. We have the heat pump going at night.

I promise to answer some of your e-mails tomorrow. Thank you so much for writing.

Happy 37^th Anniversary, Roger and Suzanne!!!

WARM greetings to you all, Larry and Glenda

TWO WEEKS ALREADY!

I know I have been remiss in updating our blog, please forgive us. Have gotten a few "you need to update your blog" comments lately!

Can't believe it has been two weeks today when we arrived in Casa Grande. The time is going a lot faster than I thought it would. Have really enjoyed Bob and Judy showing us all around and acquainting us with their friends. Everyone is so friendly and want to know where you are from, how long are you staying, have you been here before, etc. Bob and Judy left today to go back to KC for a couple of weeks to celebrate a late Christmas with Jason and Dawn, Katelyn and Ethan, and also to help celebrate Ethan's first birthday. We miss them already! Hurry back, Bob and Judy!

The weather has been nice and sunny most days, but not quite warm enough to bring out the shorts. The temperatures have been running in the high 60's and low 70's. Everyone tells us that around the first of February, it will start getting in the 80's. We have been getting up and walking each morning around 7:00 and it is usually pretty chilly out, around 39 and 40. Today was pretty windy so we stayed inside most of the day. Did get out and do our laundry here at the park.

One day last week the four of us went up to Mesa and went to the Camping World Store. Of course, we have to go back because Larry didn't get to see everything he wanted to see. After that, we went over to Harry and Sue Foster's house in Mesa. They have a lovely home and live in a very nice area. Then Harry loaded us all up in their van and we went to Old Folks' Buffet (oops- I mean Old Country Buffet). Had a great time visiting with Harry and Sue. Barbara and James -- you better come out here! It's lots of fun!

Last Saturday Bob and Judy took us to Eloy, AZ -- the Skydiving Capital of the World. What a thrilling and exciting day, especially for Larry. Skydivers from all over the world come here to skydive. There is a small white plastic fence that separates the skydivers from the spectators when they land. We could watch the planes take off with the skydivers and it soars to about 12,000 feet before they jump. If you have binoculars, we can see them jump out, but you can't really see them with the naked eye until they open their colorful parachutes. When the skydivers land, they are only about 10 feet from us. It was so neat to watch. There was a hot air balloon that we got to see launch also. We spent about four hours there and then we had a hard time getting Larry to leave. Of course, we will be going back to that place also, especially when some of the rest of you get out here. It is only about 20 miles from Casa Grande.

Don't know what we will do this week since Bob and Judy won't be here. May take a couple of days and go visit some friends of Larry's from TWA days who are spending the winter in Yuma. Dave and Jan Legaard are started out here so expect them towards the end of the week. Pat and Woody Green are in Phoenix now so we will all get together whenever Dave and Jan get here.

Sorry I took so long to update. Will try to do better. Having a great time and enjoying the weather. Larry and Glenda

ENJOYING THE ARIZONA SUN

It is Sunday, January 6, 2008 and we are settling in and enjoying the Arizona climate. I know all of you back home want to hear about the lovely weather we have been having here. Ha! Have had a couple of nice sunny days in the high seventies. It has been raining today and yesterday it was cloudy most of the day. I hear that it has warmed up back home and the snow is melting – that’s good.

Bob and Judy have been entertaining us and showing us all around. Have been meeting their friends from this RV park and the other RV park where they stayed for several winters. Can certainly understand why they enjoy it out here. Casa Grande has lots of shopping and dining places. It is a town about the size of St. Joe, maybe a little smaller, and very easy to get around.

The RV park had a craft show last Friday and also served lunch. They had asked Judy to help with the lunch so Judy asked me if I would like to help. “Sure” was my reply so got too meet some more neighbors. Everyone is so friendly out here. We have some people right behind us that are from Richmond/Excelsior Springs area. Couldn’t believe we found someone that close to home in this RV park of 700 sites. We have people from all over staying here and lots of Canadians. I even met someone who stays here from Mound City, MO! Her name is Nadine Smith. She came through the lunch line when I was serving so I didn’t really get to visit with her but hopefully will run into her again sometime.

We have been getting out and walking most days. Haven’t ridden our bicycles yet. Lots of cactus around and I’ve seen some geraniums and petunias in pots on patios. It is strange to see Christmas decorations out when the weather is so warm!

Hope to get out and see more of the area this coming week. Will try to write more in a few days.

Bye Bye

WE MADE IT!!!


HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU!!! Hope you all had a fun and safe New Year's Eve!

We arrived here at about 8:00 Monday night after two HARD days of driving -- ended up driving 12 hours Sunday and 14 hours Monday, but we made it safe and sound and POOPED! Ha! Our good friends, Bob and Judy Howell, from KC who stay here in the RV Resort during the winter months, came and got us after we got here and took us back to their place. It was so good to see them and Judy had some food ready for us to eat. They had two other couples over to celebrate the New Year so we enjoyed visiting with all of them. The couples were originally from England and now live in British Columbia and winter down here in Casa Grande -- very nice people. They were telling us about their Christmas and New Year's traditions in England -- very interesting and I loved to hear their accent. They left about 10:30 and we stayed until 11:00 and then came on back to the RV.

Since we got in after dark Monday night, they parked us in an overflow area and then we moved to our spot this morning. Have a nice concrete patio area. It is a very nice resort. There are several buildings around the office complex area that house a library, computer lab, exercise room, swimming pool, sauna, hot tub, laundry facilities, game rooms and craft classrooms. There is also an area where they have dances and entertainment activities.

Today we slept in late and then after breakfast we got moved to our permanent spot. After lunch we took a walk around the area and came back to RV and both of us took two-hour naps. Then Bob and Judy came down and we went out to a Mexican place for dinner. Tomorrow Bob and Judy are going to come and pick us up and take us around the area and town of Casa Grande.

When we woke up this morning it was 38 degrees out and it is now 60 degrees. It was sunny today but awfully windy. You could just see the dust in the air from the winds. The two days we traveled were sunny, but cold. On our way out we continued to see patches of snow everywhere until we came south out of Flagstaff and the mtns. there.

Here are a couple of pictures that I took today of the office complex and our “home” for the next two months. We won’t have WiFi service from our spot like we thought we were, so in order to send and receive our e-mails we have to go up around the office complex area. We will try to post a blog every few days and some pictures.

May 2008 be a great year for everyone with good times, good friends, and good health!!!



P.S. Scott and Tricia, I am so sorry, but I left the apple butter and Vidalia onion dressing up at Mother's. I put it on the bed and some coats got layed on top of it so I missed it when I was picking up our things. I just hate it that I left them. Thank you so much.




Larry Bowling
lgbowling@earthlink.net
Why Wait? Move to EarthLink.
Larry Bowling
lgbowling@earthlink.net
Why Wait? Move to EarthLink.