Last Few Days in Casa Grande

Our time in Casa Grande was filled with a lot of interaction with friends and family.  My brother Marty and wife Elena were a little over an hour away in Saddlebrooke which is a retirement community just north of Tucson.  We managed to spend almost every Sunday going to church with them and then out for Sunday brunch.

Marty and I got to play a lot of golf during our time in both Tucson and while Pam and I were in Casa Grande.  Golf is always a fun time with Marty.  He's an excellent golfer and always improving, though he sports a pretty strong 6 handicap.

Back at the Palm Creek Gold and RV Resort in Casa Grande, we had some projects around the Roadurnner to tend to and some serious hang out time at the pool.  One thing I really like is to be able to get UPS packages delivered directly to the campsite.  That was the case for our new porch light that we installed.

I got the idea of the light from Steve @GoneByRV and found that Art and Gerri had ugraded from the original to this brand.  So I figured I was in good company.  I reread the tutorial Steve posted on how he did his install, but had trouble finding it now.  But I know its there somewhere!

During our time in Casa Grande, we took a couple of day trips to the Tempe/Chandler/Mesa/Apache Junction area to have lunch with friends and to stop and see other friends one day which was fun.  Ron and Marta are from Albuquerque and are also full-time Rvers.  We are glad to connect with them whenever we are anywhere close to where they are.  Ron and Marta headed from Phoenix to Albuquerque where he was going to get both knees replaced.  Yikes!  Tough patch ahead but he'll be glad when they are done.
Other friends John and Greta were in Apache Junction and we had the chance to meet them for dinner.  They are friends from one of our early Habitat for Humanity builds in Brookings, South Dakota.  It was great to see them again after many years.  They recently bought a beautiful VanLeigh 5th wheel which we were able to see.  Fun to catch up with these folks.

Before we left Casa Grande friends Kirk and Susan drove from OKC to stay with us a few days and to play golf

Here we are with Marty at the Preserve Golf Club in Saddleback where Kirk, Marty and I played 18 holes.  It was a fun day.  While we played golf, Pam and Susan and Elena went to lunch, shopping and spent time at Marty and Elena's place.
One Sunday afternoon, we got to join Marty and his two sons (Matt and Rob) and Rob's wife Christine (with kids Jackson and Andy) at an Oakland A's Spring Training baseball game.  Matt is from the San Jose/Bay area.  Wife Sierra and 3 year old son William did not make the quick weekend trip.  Rob and Chris are from the San Diego/Del Mar area.  We haven't seen them in years so that was fun!

Next are photos of friends Bobbi and Paul.  They were nice enough to stop by (and pay the $$$) and visit overnight.  We met them in Santa Fe at one of our early Habitat builds in Santa Fe.  They are from Tehachapi, CA and were en route to their place at the Escapees Campground in Benson Arizona.

Palm Creek is one nice resort.  It is an actual resort, not one in name only.  We were lucky to have spent time there during March.  It is a very nice place with lots of nice things to do.  I especially loved the swimming pool and enjoyed it every chance I had.

That's all for this edition of the Roadrunner Chronicles!  On to Yuma and getting some dental work done...
Thanks for joining us today!

Time at the Chickasaw Cultural Center near OKC

We spent a few days in Oklahoma City with good friends Kirk and Susan.  Kirk and I got to play some golf together and we had dinner at their place and enjoyed some hang time together.  They have a new grandbaby and we got to see her as well.  And see Mandy and meet Ty.  It was a great time.

On Sunday, we took a short drive out to the Chickasaw Visitor Center, Chickasaw National Recreation Area and the Chickasaw Cultural Center.

All three sites were fairly close to each other.  We started at the Visitor Center and got the impression of a very well done and informative center.

That was followed up with some time seeing and orientation video and displays over at the National Recreation Center main building.

 Next it was time for a short hike out on the grounds to take in some of the great scenery.

 We saw this fellow perched up on a branch.  He was observing the proceedings as we observed him.

 His head is on a swivel.  Fascinating.

This bridge was right near the start/end of the hike at the information center.

Along the way we got a couple of couples' photos.

Next, we went over to the Cultural Center and had a buffalo burger for lunch, then wandered through the museum and grounds.

It was a very impressive time at the Cultural Center and one of the most well done displays and we have seen in a long time.  It was a wonderful day with good friends.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles.