A Guest Appearance

Ernie has about summed up our last few days - because we have both been ill, we haven't had a lot of energy - but we are on the road to recovery.
Last week we had an enjoyable Mexican dinner with my old friend Joe and his wife Lindy who go back to my So.Calif. days. They have lived here in Phoenix for years. Since Joe is a retired police officer, we of course went to Krispy Kreme after dinner for some donuts (really - no kidding). The myth of police and donuts lives on (but not for Josh of course...).
On Friday we attended the game Ernie mentioned. I have found that viewing baseball so close to the field has changed my perspective of the game and helps me enjoy it more. It brings it down to its purest form. However, there was an incident on Friday that shook me up for a while. We have been sitting in a section of the ballpark where a lot of the balls fly over. On Friday, we watched a ball fly very close over our heads and land about 6 ft. away from us right on to a woman's knee cap. She had to be lifted out of her seat and taken away by medics and was howling in pain. I'd never seen that before - shook all of us up in the area. That's why Ernie always says if the ball heads our way - 'duck and cover'!
Signing off from sunny warm Arizona - Joyce

The Cold is Passed

Joyce and I are now "sharing" the cold that I picked up last week. I'm feeling much better, and she's on the verge of begining to feel better. So with both of us feeling a little puny, we haven't been up to much.
On Sunday we went to Mariner game #7. They lost to the Kansas City Royals by a score of 17 to 12. The M's had a 3 run lead going into the 7th, then with 2 outs they gave up 9 runs! I was planning on naming the Blog post "Winner Winner!!" Maybe tomorrow.
That will be our last game. They play Cleveland. I hope that Joyce is feeling better
by game time. I was feeling pretty lousy on Sunday sitting in the heat.
We are definately planning on going home via Nevada. We've been looking at the weather, and it looks ok. We may cut over to I-5 thru the Columbia River Gorge, as crossing Snoqualmie Pass isn't looking so good right now.
Maybe I can use the "Winner Winner!!" Blog title while in Vegas!
Adios Amigos, Ernesto

The last week of sunshine

We are into our final week in sunny Arizona. Joyce is begining to grumble! Not much exciting around here lately, except for our big windstorm Thursday Night. We had gusts in the 50-60 mph range and the coach was rocking!! No damage done, just had to put all of the outside furniture away in a hurry. But in comparison to the weather in other parts of the country, ours was a piece of cake. Apparently it does get windy here from time to time.
I have managed to come down with a cold and am not feeling my best. I think that I'm begining to get the better of it, and hope to be back to "normal" in a couple of days.
We went to our 6th Mariners game yesterday against the Colorado Rockies. The end result was the same, so we have not seen a winner yet. Ichiro is back as well as Kenji, and both played with moderate success. Junior DH'd and was 1 for 4 with a couple of solid line drives that were caught.
I have a new water pump comming today for the house water system, as our existing one is leaking. Couldn't get parts for the old one, as it is obsolete and parts don't exist. I thought that scam was just with electronics. They are shipping it from Yuma (but not on the 3:10), and it should be easy to install.
We are going to Arizona's largest flea market today. It covers 55 acres and is only about 15 minutes from here. Bound to find something that we can't live without there!
If nothing else, it should be a good source for pictures. There are none posted this time because there isn't anything that makes the grade.
We will be heading out of here on Thursday morning, and as of now, we are planning on going up thru Nevada, with our first stop in Las Vegas. Wish us luck!
Until next time, watch out for high winds, floods and snow!! Ernesto

As Sonny & Cher said,"And the Heat Goes On"

Patrice and Paul stayed in the motorhome with us for 2 nights, and we found out that the sleeper couch is not very comfortable for 2 adults. We all survived, but it was just a little congested. You never know until you try.
Sunday afternoon Paul and I went to the White Sox/A's game at Phoenix Municipal Park.
The temperatures cooled down a little (mid 80's), and it was a interesting game. The Sox won something like 12 to 9, so Paul got to see a winner. The ladies went to a shopping mall (surprise,surprise). On the way to the game, Joyce took the picture of the horse acting like a dog while going up the freeway at 60 + mph.
On Monday we went out for lunch, then just drove around some of the more exclusive areas around Apache Junction. We introduced Patrice & Paul to Apples to Apples on Monday night. After a brief 3-4 hours of sleep, it was off to the airport for their
6:00 a.m. flight. Not much traffic out at 3:30. We got back to the motorhome a little after 5:00, and got a couple more hours sleep.
Tuesday afternoon we went to the Mariners/Rangers game. The jinx is almost broken as the game ended in a 7 to 7 tie. The M's led the entire game until the 8th. The M's were playing without some of their starters as They had a game elsewhere also. But, Junior was there and played 6 innings in left field. He had 2 doubles and a walk at the plate. If not for the monster section of wall in center field, double #2 would have been about a 430' home run! This was the best M's game we have seen so far, with the temperatures in the mid to upper 70's.
On Wednesday we are meeting some old friends of Joyce's, from her Southern California days for dinner. He is a retired Police Officer, and they live in the Phoenix area. Other than that, we have no plans for the day, but I imagine that we will have to go somewhere.
We are almost into our final week here and are beginning to look at our route home. We are thinking about going up thru Nevada with a stop in Vegas to visit Joyce's old High School buddy Vinny. Then we will continue northwest into south central Oregon and up into central Washington. We may slow the travel pace a little, and get home on Monday. We will see. Until then, we still have 3 more Baseball Games and more scouting around to do. If we miss something I guess there's always next year!
Until next time, Adios Ernie

Baseball, Desert, and the Grand Canyon

It's been a busy last couple of days.
On Friday we took a 2 hour Jeep tour in the desert. It was kinda like the Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland(without the big rolling rock). Very scenic, and we took a lot of pictures. After that, Paul and I went to the Mariners/Cubs game. I am now
0 & 4. While we were at the game, the girls spent the afternoon in a Shopping Mall.
Friday morning we took off bright and early for Grand Canyon National Park. The weather there was in the low to mid 70's, and felt good. We spent about 5 hours in the park and took a lot of pictures. But, the pictures do not do it justice. We ended up driving the 200+ miles back in the dark, stopping only for fuel and to eat the dinner that we brought along. Joyce and I made it back to the motorhome at 11:30.
Saturday we all went to the White Sox/Cubs game at Camelback Stadium. Patrice and Paul are White Sox fans, but the Cubs won big. It was nice to see a game at a different park. There was more leg room and a little more Butt room than at Peoria. After the game we returned P & P's rental car, then went to eat at a Crab Shack restaurant. The food was very good.
Sunday morning P & P check out of their hotel and move in with us for the next couple of days. We have never had anyone stay with us before, so it will be interesting(I hope)to see how that works out. In the afternoon Paul and I are going to the White Sox/A's game at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, and Joyce and Patrice will do their thing (shop?), then pick us up after the game.
We don't have anything planned for Monday yet, but I'm sure that we will come up with something. Maybe we will just hang out around the pool. If we do that, there will be "No Pictures Allowed"! I'm sure we will come up with something. As I slowly type this Blog, Joyce is looking at travel brochures!
Until later Amigos, stay warm(as I know that we are), Ernesto

On the go

With Patrice and Paul staying in the area, it seems like we have been going constantly. We are trying to pack in as much sightseeing as possible. On Tuesday we didn't venture too far from "home". We went back up to Tortilla Flats for lunch, and discovered that it gets extremely crowded there at lunch time. When we left there about 2:00, it had cleared out. We stopped at the gift shop and the Elvis Chapel on the way up, then stopped at the Goldfield ghost town on the way back down.
Yesterday we headed down to the Tucson area and spent the better part of the day at Old Tucson Studios. We had a very good lunch there, and took in most of the shows. After leaving there, we found the school that Patrice went to in 8th grade while living for a year in the Tucson vicinity. We made it back to the Motorhome about 9.
This morning we are doing a 2 hour desert Jeep ride, then Paul and I are going to the Mariner/Cubs game in Peoria. The girls will be doing "their thing". Not sure what that is, but it will probably involve shopping.
Tomorrow we are going to head up to the Grand Canyon. It is about 200 miles from where Patrice and Paul are staying. We will be getting an early start. Temperatures the last couple of days have been nearing 90 degrees, but it will be about 20 degrees cooler at the Grand Canyon.
I will update the blog sometime over the weekend, Ernesto

More Baseball

Well, yesterday we went to our 3rd game, with the same end result. Only this time instead of keeping it close for several innings, they gave up 9 runs in the 2nd.
That makes it kinda hard to catch up. The final score was 15 to 5. On Thursday Paul and I are going to the Mariners/Cubs game, so I will find out if I am the Jinx, or if it's Joyce! I did get some decent pictures of Junior as he was warming up before the game about 50 feet from us. He went 1 for 3 yesterday, but I think I discovered part of his problem with hitting this spring. Notice in one of the pictures that he dosen't have a bat in his hand! I will try to bring this matter to his attention at the next game. I just don't understand what he was thinking. At the game they announced that the temperature was 73 degrees under sunny skys, and that it was 43 and raining in Seattle.
The sun is up again this morning with temperatures in the 80 degree range for the next couple of days, then it is supposed to get into the low 90's by the end of the week. That's overdoing it a little for me. Thank God for air conditioning.
Today we will probably just "hang out" around here as Patrice and Paul will be here later this evening.
Adios Amigo's, Ernesto

Sunny Sunday

The sun is shining brightly again today with temperatures expected to top out in the mid to upper 70's. Yesterday I finally washed the car after the rain shower last weekend, and we took a drive toward Tucson. On the way we ran into a RAIN SHOWER! When we got back in the evening, I talked to our neighbors, and it was warm and sunny here all day. It was 10 degrees cooler where we were. But, I just looked at the Seattle weather report, and it is currently 34 degrees and raining. The forecast for the next week is about the same. (Highs in the 40's and rain)
This afternoon we will be taking in game #3 at Peoria. Today's game is Mariner's vs White Sox. Hopefully we break the jinx and see a Mariner win today. They broke a 5 game losing streak yesterday. But so far we are 0 & 2. Today could be the day!
Tomorrow night Patrice and Paul get here and we will be pretty busy for the next week. They will be staying with us for 2 nights, so we will see how the motorhome works for sleeping 4.
Until next time, Adios
Ernesto

Friday the 13th

This may be a good day for us to lay low, get the laundry done, hang out at the pool, etc. On Wednesday we went out to Tortilla Flats which was an old stage coach stop back in the hills. Really pretty area. Yesterday we went to the Casa Grande Ruins, which was very interesting. Apparently the native people began inhabiting the area around the year 300. The great building, which is 4 stories tall, was constructed prior to 1350, and the entire area was abandoned in the 1400's due to severe drought. The buildings were built out of the subsoil material known as caliche which is composed of sand, clay, and limestone. They flooded the caliche so it would soften, dig it up, then transport it to the building site where they placed it in layers to dry as concrete. The building had no reinforcement with walls 4 feet thick at the base. The inside walls were plumb, with the outside walls battered to become approximately 2 feet thick at the top of the fourth story. Floors were built at each level with pine logs. The site was aandoned in the 1400's, and the buildings stood unprotected from the elements until A canopy was erected over the grand structure in 1932. In the 1800's the area was almost lost to the souvenier hunters who came by stage coach. Grafiti existed even then, as they scratched their names into the buildings.
I took lots of pictures, but I was using a different camera setting, and I'm not sure if I can post them.(Don't ask) Technology may have jumped up to get me again!!
The sun is shining brightly again today, as it has done every day. It's amazing to see a sunrise and a sunset every day!
Wherever you are stay warm and dry. Adios, Ernesto

Hello from Joyce - yes I am also on this trip even tho I rarely make a written appearance. As you have read, we've been exploring AZ. It's a beautiful place, esp. bcause so far unfailingly the sun actually shines every morning and you can see it. The sunsets are spectacular. The sun really does lift your spirits tremendously. We walk almost 3 miles every morning (and believe me, it's a challenge for me to keep up with Ernie). The area we're in is rural so we see horses, quail, rabbits, etc. on our walk (and one dead snake in the road yesterday). Our 'neighbors' in this RV park are all very nice and friendly. Just heard the weather report - it will be warming up progressively over the next week and predicted to hit close to 90 degrees in a week - oh I am a happy camper.... Ernie mentioned that yesterday we went to the remains of an ancient Indian village. It was mind boggling to realize how old that massive structure is. Time for a walk. Till next time, Joyce

The 1st glimpse of Junior

Yesterday was our 2nd baseball game. We got to the park a little earlier this time, had lunch, and poked around the souvenier shop. The temperature was in the mid to upper 70 range under clear skies. There is no shade where we are sitting, so hats and plenty of sunscreen are mandatory. There was a bigger crowd than the game last week, and there were more big name players starting. It was a scoreless game thru 4
innings, then the Mariners brought in Batista and it looked like he was throwing batting practice. He gave up 5 runs in the 5th and it was all over. We saw Junior bat 3 times, but he grounded out twice and struck out once. The bright spot in the Mariner offense was Betancourt (one of my favorites) with a double and a triple in 3 at bats. The final score was 8 to 1 Cubs. As in the first game we saw, the Mariners only managed to get 4 hits. I'm begining to think that one of us is a jinx!
Joyce is feeling better and we are working on ideas for things to do when Patrice and Paul come out next week. There is an indoor sky diving place between here and Tucson that I want to try. I saw this on the TV show "Little People Big World", and it looked like a blast. It is a simulated jump from 13,000 feet, and you get to go twice for $50.00. Joyce thinks that she will opt out of that one. The other thing that sounds like fun is a Old West chuckwagon dinner(outdoor), complete with a hay ride, live music, and a campfire with a storyteller. Kind of like a western Luau. And you get to keep the cowboy hat and bandana! Yee Haw!!
The sun is up and I don't see a cloud in the sky. We hear that the temperatures dipped into the 20's overnight at home, and that they had snow over the weekend. That's unusual, but not unheard of. March can be strange. But it's summer here!! I'm liking the idea of Arizona in the winter.
I will post a few Baseball pictures and say Adios, Ernie
Pictures, From The Top:
Junior at bat
Betancourt on third
M's dugout
Blog Editor's desk

Another Day in the Sun

It was pretty quiet over the weekend for us as Joyce was not running on all 8 cylinders. She thinks she may have picked up a bug where we ate at the ghost town last Friday. So, the car and the motorhome got washed over the weekend. And true to form, it rained overnight. We did laundry and got our "house" all cleaned up, so we are good to go for a few days.
Today we went to a State Park that was started by a private party around 1920. The guy imported and planted desert plants from all over the world. The State of Arizona took it over and now maintains it. We spent about 3 hours there and took a lot of pictures. This is where all of the posted pictures were taken.
The weather here has cooled off to low to mid 70's, but is supposed to be back up around 80 by the end of the week. It's been perfect for me, but a little chilly for Joyce. By the weekend it should be mid 80's, so Joyce will be comfy, and I will be too warm. But that's what air conditioning is for!
Tomorrow we head to Peoria for our 2nd baseball game. Mariners Vs. Cubs, so I hope to see Lou Pinnella. I hope that Junior will be playing left field, but if not, I hope to see him DH. We have the exact same seats we had for the Angels game last week. So I hope to have some good baseball pictures to post tomorrow.
As the late Paul Harvey would have said,"Stand by for pictures!!"
I think it's time for a Rum and Coke, Ernie

Baseball

Saw our first game yesterday at Peoria. It is about an hour drive from where we are staying. We got there just in time to get something to eat, and found our seats just as the game started. The Mariners lost to the Angels by a score of 4 to 2. The seats we have are incredible. We were in the 2nd row about 20 feet down the line from the Mariner dugout. Our seats were about 20 feet from the foul line, and approximately
35-40 feet from the third base bag. We have the exact same seats for 2 more games, and our seats for the other games are all in the same section. They are all real close to the field, and most are even closer to the dugout.
Unfortunately in yesterday's game, there were very few recognizable players in the lineup. I had to keep looking up numbers in the program, and most of them weren't even listed. The PA announcer was impossible to understand as it sounded like he was in a echo chamber. A lot of the big names are playing in the World Baseball Classic, and won't be here for a while. And they held Junior out of the game, and I didn't even spot him in the dugout.
Today we will be hanging around here, and check out some of the nearby attractions. It is only a few miles to the Lost Dutchman Mine Museum and a nearby ghost town.
I will post some pictures later today. Adios Amigo's, Ernie
Went to the Lost Dutchman Museum and a ghost town called Goldfield. Took a few more pictures today, so these are 2 days worth. From the top:
View from our seats looking out to the left field wall
View from our seats to the M's dugout
Superstition Mountain from Goldfield
Brain Cactus at a shop in Goldfield
Sunset from the RV Park

From the 90 degree desert

We made it into Apache Junction abou 6:00 last night. We had a one hour time change when we crossed into Arizona. Temperature was 91 at one point. It was difficult to find an English speaking radio station on the way here. I did find a 50's and 60's rock n roll station, but the DJ spoke Spanish. Some of the music was the original english version, but some were redone in Spanish. The shoobie doo wops and the instrumentals sounded right, but the lead vocals were in Spanish. When we got parked and setup at the RV park, I found that a lot of the TV stations are also spanish. There was a World War 2 movie on, and the German Army was speaking Spanish!!
Anyway, here we are. The weather is supposed to be cooling down over the next couple of days. I even heard some talk of rain on Friday. But it will still be in the 70's or 80's.
Our first baseball game is on Thursday, and we are looking forward to that. Today will just be for getting settled in. We need to get groceries, clean the motorhome, etc. We will get some pictures posted later today.
Ernie (aka Ernesto)
Having issues with adding captions for pictures.
From the bottom:
Orange tree in Lodi vicinity
Worrying about poisonous things
Just us
Our home for a month in Apache Junction
Fixing dinner

Greetings from Redlands California

We drove in to the campground here in Redlands after dark. The last 60 miles to get here took over 2 hours as we were in heavy traffic in Palmdale. Luckily we called ahead and they saved a spot for us, as this campground is full.
Temperature today moved up into the lower 80's after leaving rainy Lodi this morning. All went well today, but it was a long day! On the bright side, we only have about 300 miles to go tomorrow, then we get to stay put for a month. Today we did about 425 miles, which is about 150 too many. If we weren't on a tight schedule to get to Apache Junction, we would take the "journey" at a slower pace. Maybe we will take it a little slower on the way home.
Went to the grocery store and picked up some microwave meals. That seems to work pretty good when we are pressed for time. But, once we get to Apache Junction, it will be barbecue time!! The Amazing Race is just starting, so I am going to pop dinner into the microwave, open another beer, and relax!
Until Arizona, Adios Ernie