A New Golf Cart

 It's been over a month since my last post. We have been keeping busy and enjoying our friends and the beautiful weather during that time. 

We did decide to make a significant purchase last week. The golf cart we had that came with our park model when we purchased it was a 1997 EZGO electric cart. We've used it the last three years with no problems, but the batteries were now over four years old. It still worked fine around the resort, but it would not make it up the steep hill leaving the golf course anymore. The few times we tried to use it for a round of golf, Kevin ended up pushing me up the hill.

Rather than buy new batteries, we decided to look around for a used gas cart. Premier Golf Carts in Yuma had eight carts that had been turned in after being leased by a course for three years. We ended up buying a 2017 refurbished cart with a new body, windshield, seats and wiring. It looks like brand new, and we think we got a good price. Here she is!!

We put a for sale sign on the old one, and had it sold to someone in the park within two hours for a price we were happy with. 

We've continued to golf quite a bit. The organized golf groups ended in early April, but there are plenty of people still here to play with. I played quite a bit this year with two of my good friends, Carolyn and Cynthia. 

A few days ago Kevin and I were playing a round when I noticed something odd in one of the trees along the fence line. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a swarm of bees. Two days later, they were gone. I don't know if they moved on or if they were removed.

The Palo Verde trees which are the Arizona state tree are in bloom. I liked this view of the sun shining through one of them at Coyote Wash Golf Course last week.

Yuma is known as the Winter Salad Bowl of the country because there is so much produce grown here during the winter season. When we first came here, we were surprised at the amount of farm fields. I just thought it would be desert. There is a complicated irrigation system in place from the Colorado River which allows all of this farming to take place. Here are some of the green fields we saw while golfing at Butterfield Golf Course.

On March 19th the resort held a going away party. Tables were set up in the parking lot due to Covid restrictions. We enjoyed a free dinner of corned beef and fixings and free drinks for the evening. 

The band was set up on a trailer. The theme was Roaring 20s and there were lots of great decorations. Our friends Pat and Jim were enjoying the music and showing off their dance moves.

Our resort has happy hours every weekday at the pool. Every once in a while we attend. Here we are with a group of friends on March 31st. As you can see, everyone is happy!

The last happy hour of the season was held on April 15th. It was pretty warm, but we found shade under one of the cabanas at the pool. When we got there, we found out drinks were free. Bonus!! As you can see, everyone is again happy!!

Carolyn showed us a new craft idea called pebble art. It's making pictures out of small rocks. We had a ball being creative.

Here we are with some of our finished products. 

I found a picture on Pinterest that I liked, so I made my own version of a hiker. Our friends Nancy and Everett lead the hiking group, so I thought it would be perfect for them. I think they really liked it. I have a few other ideas in mind, but haven't gotten them finished yet.

We also did some rock painting. I made this rock cactus planter. I have ideas for some other rock painting projects, but I just don't know where the time goes. Who knew being retired would keep us so busy!!

Someone in the resort has a drone and took this aerial picture. Our house is where the arrow is. I thought it was a cool view.

I have been quilting, but most of the projects are gifts, so can't be shown yet. I did finally finish this queen sized bedspread for our fifth wheel. I started it last summer in Wisconsin. It was a lot of work, but I'm very happy with the end result. My decorating theme in the fifth wheel is north woods, so it fits right in. It will be much nicer than the one that came with it.

So, that brings you up to date on what we've been up to. We plan to leave Yuma in mid June and make our way to Wisconsin, Nebraska and Iowa to visit family again this summer. On the way back, we have reservations at the Albuquerque International Balloon Festival. We're very much looking forward to seeing our family again and attending the festival.

Stay safe everyone!!

Lots of Golf

 Because of many activities being downsized, we've been playing more golf this season than ever before. It must be paying off because both of our games have improved. 

My handicap has dropped from a 19 to a 16 (for 9 holes), and I have had several games in the past few weeks with a score of 50 to 52. That's quite an improvement for me. Kevin has also been improving his scores, playing regularly in the 40s. Here I am concentrating very hard on making that putt.

These are some of my golfing buddies.

Since my last post, we have been enjoying life here at the resort. We rarely leave other than to grocery shop. At the end of January, they had a 5K walk/run here at the park. (A few people did actually run!) It was an overcast and blustery day, but we soldiered on. It even sprinkled for a little bit. Here are some of my walking friends. Kevin walked with a group of guys. We made it under an hour, and that was good enough for me.

After the walk, there were snacks and beverages at the pool area. It's great to have such wonderful friends here.

In February the resort sponsored a bike ride outside of the park. We trucked our bikes to downtown Yuma, and then rode about 9 miles on paved paths. At the end, we met at a park where the resort supplied a free bag lunch for all participants. Below our resort manager, Greg, is giving last minute instructions.

About 60 people participated. Not bad for a year where the resort is only about half full.

One of the work campers has the job of taking pictures of all the events and posting them on Facebook. She got a nice picture of us.

The Activities Department employees handed out delicious turkey or ham sandwiches, chips, fruit and beer, water or soda in little cooler bags we got to keep.

February 26th brought us a full moon. The timing was perfect to get some amazing pictures as it came up over the foothills.

One morning Kevin came in and told me to come look at what was out on the patio. Sitting on top of our flag pole was a very unusual bird. At first we thought it was some type of hawk; but when it turned it's head pretty much completely around, we knew it was an owl. That's the first time we've seen an owl here. I tried to identify what type it was, but couldn't come up with the answer. If anyone can identify it, please let me know.

We continue to get together with our New Kids on the Block friends for our weekly Friday night potluck. There is so much fun and laughter. It's so good for the soul!!!

In February we also participated in the annual night golf tournament. You are paired with another couple and play 9 holes in the afternoon. This year we had a take out supper of a hot dog, cup of chili, chips and a beer or soda. 

Then we played another 9 hole round of night golf in the dark. Everyone decorates their carts with glow in the dark balloons and other glow sticks. You are not allowed to turn on your lights. The holes are shortened into par 3 for the night round. There are glow stick lights to lead you to each hole and down the fairway. The flag has glow sticks on it, too.

This is the third time we've done it. It's an amazing event that we really enjoy! And, we finished in 4th place.

I don't know who the guy is in the above photo. It was someone who was at the event that night. I stole the picture from one of my Facebook friends because I thought it was such a cool looking picture!

Last Friday I was out running errands. I saw these two unique rigs in the parking lots. That's the smallest camper I've ever seen. It has 2 solar panels on top, and 2 propane bottles on the rear.

We've seen a lot of unusual towing configurations in our travels. But, this is a new one. I've never seen a boat loaded on a pickup truck like this. I saw that they have a hitch on the back of the truck, so my guess is they also tow a pull behind camper. 

So, as you can see we've been plenty busy, and enjoying our life here in Yuma. Covid cases are very low in Yuma County as well as at our resort. I haven't heard of anyone in the park being sick in quite a while. Kevin got his first vaccine last week. I get my first one on Tuesday as Arizona has now opened it up to those 55 and over. We look forward to life returning to some normalcy soon. 

Until then, be safe!!!

Love Our New Porch Floor

It's been a month since I posted, and we've been enjoying 2021 so far. After our remodel was finished in 2019, we had a few projects to finish on our own. Last fall, I finished one of those by painting our back wall and shed. That left one big project to complete, which was reflooring our front porch. The floor that was on the porch when we bought the park model was old outdoor carpeting. It was impossible to keep clean with the sand and dust that blows around in the desert. You could vacuum until you were covered in sand and dust yourself, and it just didn't come clean. We were so sick of it that last year we actually pulled up the carpet to expose the subfloor underneath, and covered it with the outdoor mat we use with our fifth wheel.

Here's the best picture I have of the before with the carpet. It was much worse than the picture shows.

After looking at what other people had done with their porch floors and talking to friends who had redone theirs, we decided to replace the carpet with composite decking, better known as Trex. Home Depot has another brand which is considerably less expensive than Trex, so that's what we ordered. 

The most important step was making sure the boards underneath were flat all the way across to prevent the top boards from getting a wavy look. Our friend Dave, who redid his bigger porch floor a few years ago gave us lots of good advice. Before we knew it, he was dropping off lots of tools and saws and was helping Kevin with the entire project. He was such a great help.

They spent about 5 hours making sure the boards underneath were flat. They had to shim up some of the sections and grind down others. Here they are working hard!

They also put in a couple of 2 x 6 boards to reinforce what was there. Dave is a retired engineer, and he was making sure this porch would last forever :)

The next day we spent about 4 more hours putting down the actual boards. We ordered 18 sixteen foot boards. It doesn't look like much, but that's $700 worth of product laying there. We got it about half finished before it was time to quit for the day because we all had a golf scramble to get to. Can't forget to have some fun!!

The final day our friend Syd came to help, too. He has a construction background, so we were in very good hands. My job was to drill the pilot holes for the screws and cleanup. The guys did the measuring, cutting and screwing down of the boards. It was tricky getting it measured and cut correctly around the bay window, but the guys were pros. Kevin and I both said if we would have hired someone, it wouldn't have been as good a job as Dave and Syd did. It's wonderful to have such great friends. I don't know how we'll ever be able to repay them!!!

So now the last step is putting the railings back up. Today is supposed to be rainy and there is a wind advisory, so that step will have to wait until tomorrow. I absolutely love how the new floor looks, and it will be so easy to keep clean. Thanks guys!!!!

We continue to keep busy playing golf. We actually bought an annual membership this year since we've been playing more. We figure it will pay for itself in about 5 months. Anything more than that will be a bonus.

Due to Covid, we've been keeping our bubble of friends pretty small. We play golf with this group quite often. I golf with these lovely ladies, Cynthia, Carolyn and Kim at least once a week.

On Sundays we golf with Rick and Cynthia and play a game called Bingo, Bango, Bongo. It's the girls as a team against each of the guys individually to give us a fighting chance. There is a payout for first one on the green, closest to the pin, and first ball in the hole. We play for dimes, so no one is going to get rich, but it's lots of fun!! So far, the girls have been doing pretty well.

On Friday evenings we get together with a group from our neighborhood for potluck dinners, rotating at whose house it is at. Last Friday Cynthia hosted at her house with a raclette party. I'd never heard of this, but she had these two grills that you could grill food on the top layer and broil on the lower level. Each of us brought prechopped items to share. You cook your own food in front of you and dip in sauces. It took some time, but it was fun and we all managed to get plenty to eat!!

Kevin does not like getting his picture taken. Somehow, Cynthia always gets a great smile out of him!

Our resort has been trying very hard to have functions in a safe manner. In January they started having Wednesday evening outdoor music at the pool with Pepe, one of the favorite entertainers here at the resort. A group of us went. Masks were required when dancing, going to the bar or walking around. We took them off at the table to drink.

Yuma had been in a long dry spell with no measurable rain since last March. We made up for that last week with over 2 inches in 2 days. The annual rainfall is only a little over 3 inches. It's raining again right now, but we aren't supposed to have that much. I'm not going to complain since both our kids are under winter weather advisories today with lots of snow expected.

We did have an amazing sunset during the last rainfall. This is the view from our backyard.

The foothills were glowing looking out our front window.

We hope everyone is doing well. I am so hopeful that this Covid crisis will be over fairly soon with vaccines making their way around the country and world.

Stay safe!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Kevin and I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and Happier New Year!!

This has certainly been a trying year for so many, and we pray for a better 2021. Although there were some inconveniences, we were fortunate to have a good year. Our prayers are with all who have or are suffering!

We continue to enjoy sunny weather in Yuma. Golf is still our main activity. With all this practice, our games have been improving a little. Kevin's handicap has dropped a few points. I had my best game ever last week. A group of ladies were playing at Foothills Executive Course. It is a par 34, and I had a score of 40 with four pars and one birdie. I felt like I was in a dream. Of course, the next time I played, reality was back with a vengeance. Ha, ha!

 We had stored some of our Christmas decorations in Eric's basement as we couldn't use them all while we were full time RVing. Eric has his house on the market, so we had to take our stored items with us. It was fun decorating our small house. Kevin used to decorate with tens of thousands of lights at our house in Wisconsin. He resumed this activity on a smaller scale, only now we have a palm tree in front of our house.

For over 30 years before we hit the road full time Kevin bought me a dated Christmas ornament every year. These had been stored away as well. I got a second four foot tree to put on our porch. It is covered with all of those dated ornaments. Most of them were round balls. The little tree looks a little strange with so many big ball ornaments on it, but it is very special to me, and I loved seeing all of these ornaments again.

Our inside tree is also four feet tall, with fake snow on it. I added some of the other ornaments that were in storage, as well as those we had collected during the nine years we were on the road. It looks so pretty.

A few weeks ago our friend Cynthia invited four of our neighborhood ladies to her place to make gingerbread houses from a kit. None of us had ever done this before. The box said it was for ages 3 and up. Hmmm, I don't think so. We had a lot of laughs, and they all turned out beautiful, but it wasn't so easy. The frosting didn't always want to cooperate.

Above is my finished house. The two pictures below are the five of us who enjoyed this activity together and our creations.

You may have noticed in my pictures these last few months that it's the same people. We're keeping our bubble of friends pretty small on purpose. Better to be safe, and we really enjoy the company of these great friends here at our park.

On December 10th, we celebrated Kevin's 65th birthday with cheese cake and some of the same good friends. The best part of turning 65 is Kevin is now Medicare eligible, and has much better health insurance coverage.

Last year we started getting together with a group of neighbors on our street who had all purchased their homes in the last few years. This group became known as The New Kids on the Block (aren't we clever). We get together Friday evenings after golf scramble. Each week a different homeowner hosts the main dish and the rest of us bring a dish to pass. We have a blast! Here we are last Friday. Syd and Carolyn made enchiladas and amazing margaritas.

I have also been doing some quilting. Last summer while we were in the fifth wheel for three months, I did a bunch of applique blocks for a new bedspread for the RV. When we got back, I sewed them all together. I haven't put the sides on yet, because I want to measure it on our bed, but the fifth wheel has been at the dealer for the last three months for warranty service. Apparently, parts are incredibly difficult to get. At least, that's the story they're telling us. We don't need it until June, so hopefully, it'll be done by then :)

The new bedspread is done in a Northwoods theme, as that's how I have the RV decorated.

The other quilt I finished is in Christmas colors. 

That pretty much covers what we've been up to for the past month. We are hopeful the vaccine will help the world get back to normal. 

Stay safe!!