Hi all,

Expect you thought the two of us had fallen off the edge of the earth ....wrong....just discovered Mesa....and the warm weather.  Immediately upon arrival we began setting up house on the outdoor patio and have so much stuff outside of the 5th wheel now, we thought we would sit tight for a while and enjoy the weather.

But true to my word I am back to fill you in our adventure.

 As you know we spent two weeks in Tucson with John's cousin Lynn and her husband Dick, enjoyed Christmas and New Years with them then on the 8th of January headed north to Mesa looking for a little warmer weather.

 Dick and Lynn stayed on another week or two in Tucson getting some work done on the Motor home then took off for Quartzite.

              

January 8th we arrived at Mesa Spirit this park has everything imaginable to do...tennis, shuffle board, pools, hot tubs, wood working room, lapidary, library, workout room etc and were located close to all kinds of shopping, restaurants and events so we decided to stay a month and relax a bit.

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Met a guy at the Market and had arranged for him to build sliding drawers for all my floor level cupboards in the RV.  He came by the park a few days later measured things up and in a few more days arrived and installed them for me. What a world of difference that makes for me, no more crawling around the floor to get at my pots and pans out.

Jan 19th we went to a fund raiser in the park activity centre second week of January. they were raising $$ for their ball team here. Marilyn was performing a few songs as was her brother Jerry from Manitoba and a few more of their friends. It was an entertaining evening to a full house of about 300 people.

Jan 21st we took a drive to Del & Kay's place they used to have a View Point, in East Mesa, their place has been well taken care of since they sold it, the picture on the left is John’s parents place, but the neighbourhood is changing as many homes there are being modified to look like Adobe style homes, this one is right next door to their place.

On the same day we drove to Saguaro Lake and about and hour away and enjoyed a nice lunch at Fort McDowell Casino not too far from there.

January 22nd my brother-in-law Wayne was joining his sister Sharon on her road tripsouth to to Casa Grande from Ladner, BC for the winter.  Wayne was sharing the driving and planning a 2 week stay and would fly home afterward.

We went down to Casa Grande for the day...to see Wayne and Sharon and check out her place there.  Enjoyed their Annual Street Fair and Car Show and had a fine dinner that Wayne and Sharon prepared for us, Sharon has a lovely place and many friends to enjoy her winter with there.

On our tour through Casa Grande, we saw some beautiful buildings from years past including a Cactus Garden Restaurant which you have to see believe Above is a stone residence in Casa Grande and the photo to the right is a cactus garden patio restaurant, a few blocks away.

 Wayne and Sharon then joined us in Mesa a week later and we went to meet Sharon friends who have a place at Venture Out, a park just down the street from ours.  Another real nice park, had another awesome lunch, met Sharon's friends and they are great folks.  The next few days we had to say good buy to Wayne as he was getting near the end of his 2 week trip and was planning to fly home in a few days.

On Jan 25th we took a day trip to watch some modified stock car dirt track racing in Peoria, just east of Phoenix which was awesome.  When we got there it turned out it was right next door to a small grass air strip and all the while we were waiting for the racers to get through their time trials, we were being entertained by small planes, pulling gliders up from the air strip, hang gliders, ultra lights and about 5 hot air balloons. All careening around in the sky right above the race track, it was real cool and went on until sun set and the lights of the track came on.

During the last week of January we went to the Arizona Opry for an evening of dinner and entertainment with Al & Marilyn Stefanik which was a lot of fun, and we also took a trip to Organ Stop Pizza, which is an awesome pizza parlour with a Wurlitzer Pipe Organ which rises out of the floor and the pipes are located throughout the whole building and an organist plays almost continually while a couple hundred people shuffle in and out enjoying their pizza, salad and beer. The music was great, but the organ and its sounds are something to behold.

                        

It wasn't long after we settled in at Mesa Spirit that we were bragging to family about the nice weather and all there was to do down here when mom and dad decided they would fly down and join us for a month, so we checked around at our park and found them a Park Model to rent and they came down and joined us on February 1st. which was mom's birthday so was a nice gift for her to leave the cold weather behind.

February 2nd the day after Mom and Dad arrived we all went to the Flea Market in Mesa and Dad bought himself a Tablet and the seller operates a computer store in East Mesa so Mom and Dad are going to classes every Wednesday to help them learn how to use it. This will be great for future trips as they won't have to drag their laptop with them, I think there having fun with it.

Feb 8th the four of us took a day trip to Tortilla Flats, north east of Mesa. It was an awesome day, both the folks and John and I had been there before but the drive is beautiful and of course we stopped for a beer and took a few pictures while we were there.

                             

Feb 13th, we took the parents to see Cabela’s which was an experience if you have never been to a stadium size sporting goods store.  We manage to fit a little shopping into every day that we are out.

Since they have been here with us we have been back to the Organ Stop, and taken a trip to Goodyear just east of Phoenix.

On Feb 14th we went to the Scottsdale International Arabian Horse show in Scottsdale with friends of mom and dads who live in Scottsdale, Connie and Bob Cooper.  We thought it was awesome, and the western shopping was unbelievable.

                   

Heading up to Desert Hills north of Scottsdale to visit Connie and Bob Cooper this Sunday will let you know how interesting Sedona, Cave Creek and the outlying areas are. 

Were getting a personal tour from the Coopers' and really looking forward to it.  

Were planning on going to a Nascar Race in Phoenix on March 2nd, and Mom and Dad are flying home on Monday, March 3rd so hope to cram a few more things in before they leave then we hope to head for Texas on March 4th or 5th.

Hope this update finds you all doing well, and will try to do a better job of keeping you all up to date.  A big kiss goes to Lexie (who we miss very much) ....Love to you all.  Gerry & John