The Simple Things

Hello Readers,
I couldn't resist sharing our newest "fail safe" drawers in the RV --- ever since the "drawer" catching incident, Darrel has added catches to the drawers to "protect" them from moving during travel.  I think "baby proofing" but we have no baby, so there you are!

Notice the catch on the left, when the door is closed, it hooks into the "latch" and you have to open the door an inch or so and then press down to release the 'latch" to open completely.

Another drawer with the "travel safe" proofing added.

So far he has the cabinets done by the slides, pantry and the overheads, but I can tell you, they are so much fun to remember the "catch & release" method for cabinet opening when you are sleepy or mindless (either one can work for Susan & Darrel) -- we are getting use to them, kind of a love/hate relationship.

But I close this Simple Things post with two beautiful pics I accidentally caught tonight as the sun set over the mountains.  We were cloudy most of the day and the sun just peeked out long enough to give us some color changes in the clouds.

The simple things in life are truly worth enjoying!

Take care, we miss you all,

Love,

Susan & Darrel

AZ Flora

Hello Readers,
I hope you had a great Thanksgiving.  I know many of you were blasted by snow and blizzard conditions -- while we basked in sunshine and coolish temps for Arizona.  I guess I shouldn't whine about low 60's!!

As I promised, I managed to wander around the park and snap pictures of the flora -- I have to admit the fauna is much tougher as there are quick bunnies and startled quail that I cannot seem to be camera ready so I will dazzle you with the desert growing things I see.  I don't know many names but will try to label or given information that I know.

Citrus trees, lemons and limes are tricky until they are fully ripe and the color changes

Again, either grapefruit or orange, my guess grapefruit by size.  These aren't ready for another month or so but they look ready to fall.

I think this is Agave, there are many varieties so difficult to know for sure.

Barrel cactus, and again, there a few varieties, I think this may be a golden?

I've heard them called paddle cactus, but the ones on our lot are much larger!

Saguaro cactus, and this is a big one on a lot across the street

A mixture of cactus in the landscaping around a lot

Big Saguaro with lots of "limbs"

The red "growths" are the fruit of the paddle cactus -- the cactus wrens love to feed on them.

I think this is a "cholla" cactus and you have to be careful around them as they fall off the "mother" plant and the static in the air will make them catch onto you when walking the desert.

Oleander, very poisonous

Don't know, looks like a rose and really thorny

The flowering bushes are "Lantana" not sure of spelling, but spelling phonically

Many colors of blossoms, and some are variegated.

Again, a flowering bush, with mega thorns

I was told these are some type of arborvitae, the grow really fast and tall in a column -- they make a stately appearance around doorways and driveways. 

This is a Paola Verde tree, Arizona state tree -- they are GREEN! Bark, leaves, pretty much everything and are big!

It is such a change of landscaping from the midwest, you get use to seeing no leaves but everything seems pretty short except for the occasional evergreen tree.  I will try to find more but with winter coming on, there will be little color changes until spring rains.

Hope you all enjoyed the flora sharing -- we are exploring the desert more and took a walk to Inspiration Point but mostly the landscape was sand, packed dirt and rocks with low scrubby bush.

Best wishes to all,

Susan & Darrel

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!
I am writing this post a little early because I hope on Thanksgiving Day you are all enjoying family and friends and NOT spending time on Internet activities.  There was a TV news report on a local AZ station on restaurants that are trying to get customers to disconnect from their phones during a meal by placing boxes, baskets, and other containers on the table to house their cell phones and offering discount incentives if you do!  So I hope you unplug this holiday and enjoy the joys that surround us!
PS  It is OK to call missing family members AFTER the meal 😉

We have been busy and I cannot really tell you with what.  There was a huge garage sale event at North Ranch this past weekend and Darrel and I managed to walk almost 6 miles looking at stuff.  Ok, we live in a RV so we have to purchase select stuff -- Darrel found an electric Weber grill so we can limit the propane use on our portable one and I found an NuWave2 induction cookplate for inside cooking as we try not to use our propane stove.

And most importantly, we found a couple stocking caps because the mornings have been chilly (OK, 44+ degrees, I understand isn't chilly to some) and we cannot seem to find our KS stocking caps that are probably in storage.  Most of the time I get to say, nope, we don't have room as we look at others treasures!

We have more fix-it issues that have come up -- we are hoping it is just a thermostat on the hot water heater but it seems to run all the time unless we turn it off at the switch -- that started on Sunday 11/18 and we are still waiting on the replacement bathroom vent fan, which hopefully will arrive this week??  I only THOUGHT we were getting away from home maintenance, I guess I did --- it is RV maintenance.  😛

We have added neighbors behind us (Sandy & Tom, from Oregon) and across the street from us (Sue & Ernie and Patch, the Border Collie from Montana) -- one day I watched the owner of the lot cut the "limbs" off the palm trees (there is probably a correct term like frond, or branch or dead leaves, etc.) but limbs work for us Midwest snowbirds that have trees.

Here's a couple of pics -- these "limbs" are really huge, and high up --- I thought, no way for Darrel to cut those off!

You can see his ladder and he used a reciprocating saw to cut those suckers.  Also he used a rope to tie them to pull to the ground!  He has 3 trees on this lot so he worked 2 days.

A little closer shot of the pile growing on the ground and he still had the tree behind and one you cannot see in this pic to trim!

OK, I am easily entertained -- but it was mesmerizing to watch him cut those down.  The palms looked nice and groomed when all trimmed, nice and green, too.  Someone told me you have to be careful cutting those because a professional trimmer was smothered under the limbs!!

I plan to add a Flora and Fauna blog post as soon as I get out and focus on some of the flora in the park.  So many different things I am not used to seeing -- as for the fauna, that may have to wait as I am not quick enough to catch those quail running across the street or the rabbits that take off and scare me to death as I am walking.  We do not see as many lizards with the chilly nights and thank goodness, the mosquitos are GONE!!!  But I will keep trying!  Of course, we still hear the coyotes at night.

OK, I am wrapping this up, too much chatting, not enough pictures!  I will try to dazzle you with more in the next few weeks.

We send many thanks for all our loving family and friends that stay connected with us on our journey and are truly blessed in our life!

Happy Thanksgiving Blessings,

Susan & Darrel

Arid Arizona and lots of sunshine!

Hello Readers,
We are settling into AZ and I can tell you, being only a state away from the California wildfires kind of puts it into perspective. My heart goes out to those people losing their homes (and some, their lives). I try not to dwell on them but the knowledge is there in the back of my mind.  I know when we were in CO, I thought about the CO fires, but anything still burning while we were there was way north of us and I didn't worry too much about them where we parked.

We are getting some of the heavy winds which are fueling those fires (Santa Anna winds) and the wind will howl around the RV slides.  I think, I'm not in KS but those winds (which can be coolish) remind me of old man winter.  I actually had on a sweatshirt this morning (brrr 52 degrees : )

Any hoo, on to better things.... Here's a few pics to share:

While in Prescott (my favorite town so far), there is a white "P" on the mountainside, as Prescott sits in a valley between a couple of small ranges.  Darrel is so proud as he claims the "P" for Pendergast!!

(NOTE:  He also claimed the "D" in Del Norte, CO on the mountainside for Darrel -- he just thinks they know he is visiting: )

A slightly better view as we are driving by.

My Canon camera isn't the best to take long range pics or after dusk/dark pics but I did try to catch the crescent moon one night that showed up in the sky.  It was kind of neat to watch it move across the night sky.

We have Quail that fast walk, run, and fly when you startle them, or they startle you!  I was trying to catch them as I had 3 or 4 out my door, but they were too fast for me.  I liked the "night view of the lot and dusk closing in fast.

Night time seems so different here than in Kansas, I'm not sure what makes it seem different, but the sky lights up with the last rays of sun, with glorious sunsets in hundreds of colors ... then it goes dark, with a quiet dignity.  It feels peaceful....

On a funny note, Darrel was gifted with this metal detector (gold, of course) figurine in true Arizona dress code - I placed him outside our RV among the cacti for the true effect of "detecting".

 Couldn't resist the side view -- of course, the beverage is a Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi 😆

Better run -- bedtime draws near.... yes, the Pendergast's still keep an early bed time.  Oh, and I am so glad we are now on "Mountain time" with the end of Daylight Saving Time.  It is much nicer to call people and not worry about being too late, or for me, too early!

Love,

S & D (I have this logo on our contact card)

PS  We got a notice from the dealer that there is a recall on our RV for the brakes.  Just another Fix-it thing that will need to get scheduled at a dealership (not the Darrel, fix-it guy) -- not sure when that will happen as we are miles from the nearest Keystone dealer and you just don't "move" this baby on a whim 😖

RV Fix-It continues

Hello Family & Friends,
Well, once again, we are in fix-it mode on the RV.  I truly cannot believe that a "new" RV can have so many issues and it isn't just us.  We have met several travelers on our journey with the same issues and "war" stories.  I am so surprised that this is the case and I am so glad that Darrel is "handy" and saw fit to bring lots of tools to help us repair the problems.  I need to point out that we are so lucky that Becker Auto & Trailers as our dealer, has been awesome in solving our problems and getting repair parts to us in a speedy manner.  I am sure when I call, there are groans that I never hear : )

So our fix it lists includes:

• the drawer that the slide-out "caught" when I ran out the slide to setup -- I need to check to make sure objects that may have shifted in travel are back in their place before moving the slides out!  (I need to remember to use a flashlight because it can be dark in the RV).
• the garage 1/2 bathroom vent fan motor is not working -- we have a replacement on the way.
• the check valve on the holding water tank leaked, so we have replaced the pump and filter which meant cleaning out the front bay and Susan wiggling into to assist.

Darrel has modified our pantry storage to create some extra storage.  He is adding partitions to give us extra storage.  Another thing he manufactured after some suggestions, hanging racks in the garage over the seating area.  We can hang our jackets, motorcycle gear and work clothing which helps organize items.

We also have purchased some items like wheel covers (see pictures below) which help with the sun not checking the tires.  Arizona sun can be brutal so these are recommended to protect the tires.

We also purchased an additional step handle for the front step.  Darrel likes the front step since it is a more solid step with a 4th tread and feet that support to the ground.  The handle helps you grab hold for safety up or down.  We have this type of step for the patio but the front step didn't come with one.

Here's some pics of Darrel at work and the what the work space looks like under construction:

Darrel even brought a workmate bench, which folds, so he can have a space to construct.

We really enjoy our lot "patio" space and the portable flag pole that Danny M. gifted us.

Tools of the fix-it trade laid out for easy access

Inside the RV -- it is under construction with the drawers out while repairing.

Fixing the "slide-out" damage

Extra storage space when Darrel is done adding the partition

Work space requires kneeling mats, tape measure and other tools, scattered

But the central vac is handy for the clean up tasks -- this is our "household" vacuum for the RV, pretty handy to reach most of the space.

So you can see we've been busy.  As soon as the vent fan gets here we will have that to put in so we aren't done yet but closer.  We do take time off to take walks, grocery shop and a trip or 2 to Prescott or Surprise and I am playing Pickleball with a women's group here in the park.  Never played before but the ladies are very helpful and I am making progress.

So I will close this post for now -- we wish you all well and will keep you posted on our happenings!

Love,

Susan & Darrel

October Happenings in AZ

Hello Family & Friends,
It has been a couple of weeks since I last posted (sorry for the lapse), time just seems to fly by.  I'll try to remember things that have happened and get you caught up.

We are at North Ranch (an Escapees 55+ community) -- the park has park homes (kind of a modular home, fairly small) and also bigger houses and then "lots" where people park their RV (from Class A's to 5th wheels, and everything in between).  We have met a lot of nice people and more arrive each day back to their "winter" home.

Luke Air Force Base is located nearby in Surprise, AZ and we hear jets quite frequently flying during the day and sometimes evening hours as well.  One night we were sitting on the couch watching TV (it was dark) and this big BOOM, went off -- I mean, it shook the RV and I think what, earthquake?? I called the people that helped us get the lot rented here, and asked, what was that?  I guess it was a sonic boom from the jets when they break the speed of sound.  They had never heard one that loud.
We have experienced a few more since that big one, but not nearly as loud, thank goodness.

I have a few pics to share so that you aren't just reading all the time....

Arizona has amazing colorful bushes, you know me and purple!

Trying on hats for the heat, OK, too fancy for me to wear, either direction!

Really a dark night with a full moon in the sky, you can kind of see the light strand under the truck.  The second picture shows it better -- we put the rope lights under truck and RV to keep the "desert" critters away... don't need any electrical wiring issues or unwelcome guests.

We went to Prescott, AZ and you pass through Yarnell, AZ (there was a terrible forest fire which killed the Granite Hotshots when the winds changed the fire direction).  We haven't seen the memorial yet but stopped in the town at the hardware store which has everything, including the bathroom sink!  Hope to explore the town and visit the memorial soon.

On up the mountain at an elevation of 6,000+ ft is Prescott (so far my favorite town to visit).  There is a historic downtown square with Whiskey Row street.  It has a lot of unique stores (and tourist gift shops).  The square has a courthouse and a nice memorial to Veterans.

Prescott has "short" four seasons and will most likely get snow sometime this season.  The temperatures are always 5-10 degrees cooler than Congress (elevation around 2,000 ft).  I hope to persuade Darrel to make the trip when snow is on the ground -- probably NOT!! : )

Fall in Prescott

I have to tell you that AZ has some outstanding rainbows -- I guess when you don't get much rain (I think the next 3-4 months predict about 1" for the entire month), the rainbows get a chance to really shine!

Rainbow outside of Surprise, AZ

Guess I had better run, I'm sure there is more to tell, like the coyotes that howl at night or when emergency vehicles run by in the day -- I've seen a couple on the desert that surrounds the park, and that we got to catch up with Topeka friends (Gail and Virle Cox) who in their travels to CA were near us and met for lunch and a catch up chat, oh, and that Susan is playing pickle ball here at the park (more on that later, I'm sure)

.... so stay tuned as I try to be more faithful in posting.  We think of all our Topeka and Kansas connections often and keep you in prayers.... we are doing well.

Love,

Susan & Darrel