Living in Paradise

 We made it to Arizona, or as I like to call it--Paradise.  We are now settled into our site for the next three months.  It was quite a task to get the trailer backed into our space as there are neighbors on both sides and the streets are very skinny.  With the help of our neighbor Irv was able to get it backed in and straight.


We're staying in a 55+ RV resort that is comprised of three villages--Fiesta, Val Vista and Los Ranchos.  We are in Fiesta.  There are 1500 sites here that are a combination of what they call park models (permanent homes) and RV sites.


There are all kinds of activities here and most of them are included in our monthly fee.  I played my first ever game of billiards.


When we arrived the resort was decked out for Christmas.  So many new plants to learn.  What type of cactus is this?


There are citrus trees everywhere.  The rules say we can't pick them if they're on someone's property, but the city of Mesa has citrus trees along the streets and sidewalks that we can pick from.  


We set up our outside patio space and made a trip to buy some plants.  Can you even imagine buying outdoor plants in January?


We've gotten to spend some time with our favorite granddaughter.  I haven't decided if she's glad we're here or not...I did learn not to even talk to her if she is hangry.  She's a lot of fun and loves hanging out in the trailer.


I've been taking advantage of all the activities and sometimes Irv comes along with me.  On Tuesdays I do Zumba in the morning and then we both do line dancing in the afternoon.  Wednesdays is Pound which is an exercise class that uses drumsticks followed by Spanish lessons and bingo in the evening.  


Then there's shuffleboard on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and pickleball on Monday and Tuesdays.  Lots of stuff going on here--I'm definitely not going to want to go home in April.


We wandered over to the shuffleboard courts one afternoon and some very nice people gave us a quick lesson.  Now we're involved with the nickel play three times a week.  We used to make fun of the old people who played shuffleboard and now we've joined them.  My brother says we're "'young duffers".


All I'm going to say is that it's a lot of fun and there is some skill and strategic planning involved.


After three months I have finally started a new painting and look where my studio is--outdoors.


Layer 1, the underpainting, is complete and next I'll start adding color.  It's a picture I took in the Tetons last fall when we unexpectedly encountered a mama and baby moose.  I just hope I can find some free time to work on it while I'm here.

The weather is perfect, the people are all very friendly, our neighbors are the village partyers who always invite us so life is good here.  My only complaint is the reTrumplicans who see we're from Colorado and immediately start talking about the damn liberals.  I'm a proud damn liberal and I think we have allies with the many Canadians who are here for the winter too.

Have a great day!




Comments

Yogi♪♪♪ said…
I'm glad you guys are having fun. Looks like lots to do. Remember the days when you often had no idea what somebody's politics was. I yearn for that again.
January 15, 2022 at 11:16 AM
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