The Ouseys in Victoria Page

Well today is the 29th; David and Tena’s “First” anniversary. The “First of Fourth”, you see they got married on Feb 29th, well you get the picture. Happy Anniversary to you both and many more. Tomorrow is Ken Kirkwoods birthday, so Helen is having the group over for Birthday Cake tonight, since they and some of us are leaving tomorrow. So lets all sing: Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Ken, Happy Birthday to you.

Today is get ready to travel day; although we will find time for an Air Museum and/or an RV show; so much to do and not enough time. Probably some will go to one and the rest to the other. We leave for “Lost Wages” tomorrow, we will be heading for Nellis Air Force Base Military Campground for 3 days (1st to 3rd) where we will meet Andy and Kathie Balogh, then from the 4th to 8th we will all go to Circus Circus, where we meet up with John and Sue Van Shaik. We are looking forward to a week in the Ritz and Glitz of the town that never sleeps as they banned clocks within the city limits some years ago. LOL. Andy and Kathie’s son Chris turns 21 on March 5th and they are taking him to Vegas for his birthday. Actually he and a friend of his, Simon, are flying in on the 4th.

So it will be a week of partying, gambling, and generally staying up late, maybe till 10 even; better go take a nap. Tata.

Hello everyone.

We had taken a driving tour through the Apache Trail (Thurs. Feb 26). It is up through the mountains East of Apache Junction that is East of Phoenix. Desert and Mountains combined. The scenery is quite breathtaking. Cacti and Canyons interspersed along a precipitous route. We stopped at Tortilla Flats for a lunch; one of those outpost type locations, which is obviously world renown. Calling cards, consisting more often of money with names written on, pinned to every available spot within in the building. They have no idea of how much money or items is pinned up, but they have counted 67 different countries. Beyond there the road turned to dirt and more precipitous. But the scenery got even better, with long sinuous mountain lakes, complete with marinas, housing houseboats and the like. Roosevelt dam is located at the end of the lake and that was about where we drove back to Mesa. All told we drove about 130 miles, took just about as many pictures since we had 4 cameras going amongst the four of us. It is a worthwhile trip for anyone coming out this way. It was one we hadn’t even heard about until we got here.

Fri. Feb 27th. The Giant Flea Market runs Thurs. Fri. & Sat. So guess what we did. We did the Flea Market; which is supposed to be the largest one in North America. It certainly was huge. One advantage it had over the many others we have done at Quartzsite and Yuma was that this one was covered, which was handy since it rained; otherwise much the same.

Today was a shopping day, for some reason we insist on shopping Costco, Walmart, Petsmart, etc on Saturdays. Why I ask? It was a zoo and we can just as easily shop weekdays, go figure. 12 of us met at “Mi Amigos” for cheap Margaritas ($2.00) and Natchos. That hit the spot.

Adios Amigos

We’re in Phoenix, rather Mesa. “The Resort” is quite nice, lots of Park Models, and they fill the few spaces they have with RV’s. It has lots of facilities, pool, spa, library, all the usual resort stuff. Internet access is a little restrictive. It is OK if you join the computer club, they have a classroom full of computers with Internet access, however, you have to be a club member. For non-members there is a computer in the library along with one plug in for a laptop. However, the computer shares the same line as the plug in, thus you cannot connect when a librarian is on duty, which is most of the day. One can connect between 5 and 10 pm, which is when I will do most of my connections, and which I haven’t done yet until now. Been too busy visiting and funning.

We drove through quite a bit of rain on the drive to Phoenix, and yesterday (Tuesday) was cloudy, but no rain. Today has started with beautiful blue and sunny skies. We found the resort and we hadn’t even completed signing in when Ken and Helen found us. Really great to see them and meet their Washington buddies. Looks like we will be busy here. Yesterday 6 of us golfed at Viewpoint Golf Course. It is a lovely Championship course, which we golfed with varying degrees of skill (I use that term loosely – maybe I mean varying degrees of lack of skill). I was pleased with my front 9, but as is typical with golf the wheels fell off for the back 9. Regardless a very enjoyable round all round. We came home to a great dinner prepared by Chef Helen. She and Carolyn went RV looking while we golfed, fortunately Carolyn didn’t buy anything in my absence (she do want slides and a nice kitchen like Helen’s).

We are going to a Mariners Practice session this morning.

(Later) And we did, left at 8:45 and got back at 1:00 pm. Their training camp is at Peoria in the Northwest of Phoenix; so it was an hour there and an hour back. However, it was worth it. Got to see many players practicing all the usual things you see in a ball game. It was great to see these great guys up close. Of course all the Washingtonians rhymed off names of players like they were family, better yet friends; all I got to say was “huh” and “whose that?” Regardless of not being much of a baseball fan I enjoyed the morning nonetheless. Heck, it was sunny, warm and in the company of a lot of enthusiastic fans (getting autographs) who wouldn’t. This year I may even watch a couple of TV-cast Mariner games.

Phew two days here and I need a nap already. (Hmmm like I don’t do that daily anyways!)

23 days

On the road again, its good to be on the road again……

Tomorrow, we head for Mesa just outside of Phoenix, near Apache Junction. We will be there a week before heading for Las Vegas. We are meeting the Kirkwoods, who are American friends we first met in 1970 at Halifax, we both worked for the same unit, ADAC, the Acoustic Data Analysis Centre. He was the first exchange officer there. They live near Tacoma now and we have kept in touch over the ages. Great people. Apparently the Seattle Mariners training camp is there and so we may get to see some games.

Acutally got some rain last night and the forecast is for more late today and tonight, maybe thunderstorms too. Haven’t seen rain in a long time, sure don’t know where that rain went. Hmmmm I wonder…..Anybody know?

Should be internet where we are going so will continue blogging, enjoying Dennis’ blog, other blogs are sparse, like he says keep blogging. I know that no news is good news, but still fun to read something about what is going on.

Gotta go and get ready to travel. Bye for now.

Wow, did we have a windstorm last night. The forecast was for winds of 20 – 30 mph (30 – 50 clickeronees) so dutifully I put the awning away. Many didn’t. About 8: 00 the wind kicked up quickly and we were enveloped in a dust storm. Visibility was down to 200 meters. According to the local weather channel, at one point it was 36mph gusting to 50 mph; more than forecast and it appeared more than that. Of course the channel that we were watching went off the air 15 minutes into West Wing. Then a half hour later the power in the resort went down. I was out in the dust helping some put their awnings up. Most satellite dishes were knocked over including ours. I put that away and secured anything else that could blow away and hunkered down for awhile. The winds subsided and the power returned an hour later and I was able to set the satellite dish up (getting quite good at that). We were able to get West Wing from a Canadian station.

This morning we heard that a couple of the park models in the resort lost the roofs off of their patios (Arizona rooms they call them). Carolyn had dusted everything yesterday all for naught, it had to be done, all over, again and then some. The Arizona dust is very pervasive. I had washed the car day before yesterday and it had to be washed again. This morning there were some sirens moving around the resort but still haven’t found out what and why. The resort has its own fire truck, so maybe that what it was, though there was no sign of a fire.

Well that was the excitement for the day. Everything else pales in comparison. We almost missed West Wing but thanks to technology the emergency was averted; we got to see it after all. Man what we have to put up with when we are roughing it. I hate to imagine what it was like on the BLM lands.

Well back to the Margaritas.

Oh yeah, today (17th) is Dennis’ and Catherine’s Anniversary. All sing together now:

Happy Anniversary, Happy Anniversary, Happy Anniversary, HA’PPY ANNIVERSARY.

Driving back from the Foothills the other day, about 7 pm and dark we saw off to our left but still quite away ahead, what appeared to be a plane descending. First assumption was that there was a small airport nearby. The plane was quite brightly lit up, and it didn’t land. I then assumed touch and goes, i.e.: pilot training. Carolyn, looking at the map, said there were no airports nearby. As we got closer we could see that the number of lights on this thing was in the order of 5 sets of two and very bright. At this point it appeared to be descending straight towards us. In actuality it came down very low and I mean like 10 feet or less and flew by us parallel to I-8. It was crop dusting. As we went by he had made a turn and was doing another strip in the same direction we were going. He had to climb to pass over a one-story house. He was obviously equipped for night spraying; it just that we never knew such a thing could be safe. This guy was really cranking it around and coming in low, much the same as the daytime crop dusters we have seen here. It was really a spectacular sight to watch.

The kiddies and grand kiddies, back home, are all doing fine. We call them a couple of times a week, and fortunately the news is usually good. Oh the odd cold here and the flu there but good. Speaking of flu I guesss Sue Robinson had it recently just after returning from Yuma and last night we heard Kathie Balogh has it as well. We are meeting Kathie and Andy in Las Vegas around the first of March. Do hope they both have a speedy recovery.

Noni is really enjoying her job at Cordova Bay Golf Course. Chelsea is still shooting straight A’s in school, smart kid that kid. All the grand kiddies are doing well in school; what can I say, they have excellent genes.

Went out for dinner last night. We went back to the Golden Corral Buffet. It is one of the better buffet style restaurant. The food is great, good selection, including steaks, ribs and an excellent variety of food that actually tastes good. That was where the FMCA Vancouver Islanders met a couple of weeks ago. Hard to believe that we leave in 6 days for Phoenix.

Gary's is trying out the driving range, the shoulder seems to be handling it well and so may golf tomorrow. Too hot today. It was 80 yesterday and going to 84 (on the really hot scale) today, and the wind is gone. Hard to take.

Mainly we have just relaxed around the resort the past few days. Shoulder is improving, and I should get a game or two in before we depart for Phoenix on the 23rd. We visited friends in the Foothills. That is 25 miles east of Yuma, near Fortuna. They own an RV lot that has room for two RV’s. They have been coming to Yuma for a decade or so and have owned this lot for 3 years. It is a very nice area of lots separated by adobe brick walls. Some lots have Casitas, and others have houses, all are very well maintained and has an ambience essentially Spanish/Mexican. While out that way we stopped to view a Bus conversion that was being sold by someone we met at the campfire at John and Sue’s campsite. It was a very professional conversion on an MCI-6 bus chassis (circa 1969). The chassis is identical to Verne and Audrey’s rig. It is solid stainless steel; the thing will last forever. However, it wasn’t anything that would suit Carolyn and myself. The floor rose in two stages from front to back. So by the time I got into the bedroom I couldn’t stand up fully, nor could I stand fully in the shower. That was strange considering the overall size of the vehicle was HUGE.

Today Carolyn and I had a nice long walk, and otherwise read our books and had a nice Valentines meal of steak and stuff. It was the first day in the last few that wasn’t windy. It isn’t as hot this weekend as first forecast but it looks good for the next few.

An accident nearby, brought down a telephone pole which has interrupted cable and telephone connections, which explains why I have been offline for a couple of days. Well it is now fixed and so I have been able to post this.

Happy Valentines you’all.

John and Sue Van Shaik dropped in yesterday. We couldn’t find them in the wilderness of the BLM lands so we had to wait for them to let us know where they were. They had moved to the VFW (Veterens of Foreign Wars – like a legion) BLM lands. It is not part of VFW, but in behind the VFW hall. They, along with Verne and Audrey Hauge, are leaving for the BLM lands near Phoenix, today (Tuesday), so they invited us out for dessert on the desert and enjoy a campfire for their last night here. So we went last night. The VFW-BLM is an excellent location. Instead of just desert like most BLM locations this one actually has some trees. A strange kind of Cedar, called a Salt Cedar. In many respects they are like a very bushy Weeping Willow. Their location was in the trees, which served as both Sun block and wind block. It was a beautiful evening under the stars and there is nothing like the blaze of stars on the desert with no light pollution.

We said our goodbyes. We will be meeting up with John and Sue in Las Vegas on March 3rd, but won’t be seeing Verne and Audrey until Victoria.

We got some directions from them for more Flea Markets, like we really needed that. Flea Markets abound around here, and you can get some good deals, if you are up to pounding the pavement long enough. The ones here are huge (the markets, not the fleas). I might as well be golfing as following Carolyn (PhD in shopping) for a couple of hours. Damn shoulder.

Did the last New York Times Crossword that my brother sends us weekly. It was a b**ch this time, but we filled it in. Will be interesting to see if any of it is right. Apparently Dennis had fun with it too. It took us damn near two hours, or 4 man-hours, errrr, woman-hours, no, person-hours.

Well must go see what troubles Martin and the Liberals are in with the Auditor General’s report. Dummies that they are. Thanks to Rob leaving us his Satellite dish, we can keep in touch with the Canadian scene such as it is.

It is too windy for the pool today, but the forecast is for decreasing winds and 74 tomorrow, and 77 Thursday.

Well we moved today (8th), our last move and now we stay put for 15 days. Only way we could stay for a month, was to move periodically. We are close the people shower, puppy shower, pet city, quite a nice spot, certainly more central.

Today we booked in at "The Resort" at Mesa, near Apache Junction, for a week, from Feb 23rd to March first. That is where the Kirkwoods are staying until March first. So we will have a good visit with them and get to carouse around Apache Junction. Apparently we might get to see the Mariners play, as that is where their training camp is. It is one of the reason why Ken & Helen, are there. They live in Washington state and are Mariner fans. After that we will be Las Vegas bound.

Cocopah, is a good place for walking, there is 7+ miles of roadway. Not to mention the 18 hole golf course that threads its way through the RV sites. My shoulder seems to be improving so I’ll have to think about booking some games.

Dennis says the opening for the Wright Bros. Exhibit went well, last Friday and he recommends all who pass through Winnipeg in the next 10 weeks, drop in and see it. (http://dousey.blogspot.com)

Carolyn just informed me that I am in charge of dinner, which really means we are going out for dinner. Where to go, where to go? Decisions, decisions. It’s a tough life.

Sue and Rob got home yesterday, all safe and sound. Except for some abnormal winds for a day all went well. Got home 2 days earlier which is good to rest up from their trip before returning to “work”, whatever that is; seems to involve money or something.

Dennis seems to thing I am expanding, I don’t know how he knew that, but yeah, he is right. We better cool it on the munchies, and slim down before returning home. Yeah right! Speaking of Bro, he is doing an Adobe photoshop course and is looking for a version 7 or 8 of Adobe photoshop. I have an Adobe photoshop version at home but I think it is older than that, and it might be a lite version as well. I’ll check when I get back.

Today is pool day, even though it is only going to 72. Man, what we have to put with. Ta Ta.

Haven’t been doing too much, so haven’t had much to blog about. Weather’s been sunny, but cool and windy. Had one day with some cloud and barely a hint of rain. The weekend is looking good enough to use the pool. Forecast is for sun and 72 degrees on my degree scale or 20 on my other degree scale. These 65 degree days are just way too cool, esp. with 30 mph winds, that’s 50 clicks on the click scale.

Can be boring without Rob to tell me what I am doing today. However, we did some more motor home hunting. Found a good 2000, Winnebago Adventurer, couldn’t get them down to what I was willing to pay, so no deal. Also looked long and hard at a Damon Intruder 2004, lots of bells and whistles (eye candy some would say) but beneath it all, the workmanship was rough. However, the deal was still pretty good, but somewhat outside of what I was willing to pay, especially having to deal with the Registrar of Import Vehicles (www.riv.ca - if you are interested in what it takes), Customs, and Transport Canada; not to mention BC insurance etc. Did find out that there are no duty or excise taxes on a stand-alone motor home. Only $100.00 excise tax on Air conditioning; there is a $182.00 fee for RIV, and of course GST and PST.

May still look around for a deal, but have pretty well lost our enthusiasm, for now.

Still no golf, damn shoulder still bothering me, Carolyn is still dizzy, it comes and goes. Fun to watch her forget about it and then bend over; my first sign of it is the Wwooooooah! Damn!” then the frantic grabbing at anything for stability. OK its not fun, I keep a very straight face and make sympathetic noises.

Currently discussing with some old American friends of ours, Helen and Ken Kirkwood, where we can meet. I mean old in the sense that we have been friends a long time not in the context of age…. Oh heck you know what I mean. They are going to be in Phoenix as of Feb 16. So we just may make tracks for Mesa where they are staying. We have the time prior to our run to Las Vegas to see them for a few days, and it should be fun.

Haven’t seen John and Sue Van Shaik, or Verne and Audrey Hague since last week; looked for them out on the BLM lands where they were supposed to be staying but no luck. Have to send them an Email.

Today Carolyn’s Aunt Merle is 95. She is still living the good life and Carolyn is sad she won’t be able be with her on this auspicious day. However, is planning a flight to Winnipeg to see her this summer. We did see her in September when we passed through Winnipeg near the start of this trip. Hey that seems like quite awhile ago, I guess because it was quite awhile ago. Hmmmmm. Anyhow all together now; Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday Dear Auntie Merle, Happy Birthday to you.

Well back to not doing much.

Sue and Rob departed for home on Sunday and today should be going up the I5 along California and Oregon today. Unfortunately the forecast doesn’t look good for that area, so we hope all goes well for them. Looks like they will get some rain at least. Looks like we might get some rain tonight and tomorrow from the same system. He left me his satellite system so we can get Canandian programs from Bell Express Vu. Weather is pretty crappy across Canada, but then I guess I am not telling you anything new. Dennis sounds pretty grumpy about the winter in Winnipeg. (His blog is http://dousey.blogspot.com ) From his blog, it sounds like Cold Mountain is a good movie to see. We just might do that here. Also he is excited about the Wright Brothers exhibit that the Air museum, which he volunteers at, is getting. The grand opening is Feb 7th; “A must see” he says, if you’re in Winnipeg in the next 10 weeks or so.

My shoulder is still acting up, so no golf yet for a few days. Carolyn has got the dizzys back. A chronic vertigo condition, she has, that comes and goes. Other than that we are doing fine.