The week has been pretty uneventful. I was sick for a few days so I made some comfort food....chicken and dumplings....
and one afternoon Noel took me out for ice cream...
Ice cream!!
One afternoon we hit a few garage sales and estate sales in the area, and lucked upon a native storyteller figurine. These figurines are handcrafted by several different native american tribes and depict the importance of passing down the stories of their ancestors. Noel really liked the one our friends Ron and Chris have, but the ones we have seen in Santa Fe and around here have been pretty expensive. We lucked out and found this one, signed by the artist, for only $15! It reminds Noel of the children's librarians when he worked at outreach, so its kind of a two-for-one memory!
The storyteller we bought at an estate sale
We saw an ad for a farmers market, so we thought we would go to pick up some fresh produce, etc. It was a farm alright, but not much of a market. It was more of a wedding venue and restaurants, with some organic produce being grown for use by the restaurants. But it was pretty and we bought some fresh bread and had fun watching families have some easter egg hunts.
Its amazing that oranges and grapefruits grow everywhere around here - I always think of citrus as being a Florida thing....
Grapefruit just growing at a street corner
I stayed up late to see the eclipse one night....
The "blood moon"
And since I wasn't feeling good, I spent my down time making jewelry and working on my cross-stitch project and reading a lot...
The jewelry is for sale....inquiries welcome!
The cross stitch project I've been working on for 5 years now....
Noel's mom and dad had a trailer and camped a lot in their retirement, and one of the things we brought with us was the sign they used to put out at their campsites. It sometimes confuses the neighbors when we introduce ourselves as Noel and Anna when the sign clearly says Bob and Loretta, but its a little piece of mom and dad Noel likes to have with him.
Noel's parents' sign that we take with us for luck/nostalgia
We've picked up a few gifts for folks along the way, and we thought of our friend Randy when we saw these hot sauces (hope he doesn't read the blog before he gets the package!) -
We've driven 14,000 miles already, so it was time to take the diesel in for an oil change, tire rotation, etc. Found out the truck had a cracked tie rod (we knew we heard a strange clunking sound). It was an unexpected expense, but we are sure glad we found out now, and not while pulling the trailer down a steep mountain side! Those prayers for our safety and well being are working, so keep em coming!
We checked out a few of the other RV resorts in the area in case we come back next year, and even a few open houses and park models in case we decide to purchase. I really like it here. The weather is awesome, and unlike Florida, there are no mosquitoes, sand fleas, flies, love bugs, etc. to bother you, and no humidity. I hope to become a snowbird for sure, but moving here could be a possibility if living two places is cost prohibitive.
And of course I had to take some more sunset pictures, and the saguaro cactus are all in bloom so had to get pictures of those! Actually, all of Mesa is in bloom - there are flowers everywhere!
Sunset between two cactus arms
Saguaro cactus blossoms
So we've battened down the hatches and will head to Sedona on Saturday, then Flagstaff the week after, then Page the week after that.
