We Had A Happy Halloween

Yuma, Arizona        High 82 Low 59

The weather has been wonderful.

We had a Halloween pot luck at the club house. There were many varieties of food and so much that it was impossible to sample it all so I started with the desserts before what I wanted ran out.

The rest of the food was very delicious. This was one of the times that if you went home hungry, it was your own fault.

We could also dress up in costumes if we wanted. Cindy and I went as deviled egg. Some of the people that saw me without Cindy thought maybe I was dressed as a good egg. We had to be together for them to get it.

 There were lots of different costumes. One couple dressed as rodeo cowboys. There were several witches and a vampire costume. Another couple had Skittle Pox.

When you're from Maine, why not as a lobstah. (lobster for the rest of us.)

His wife also had Skittle Pox, so it must be contagious.

After there was a band which played for a while.

Another night we went to the local drive-in (a video played on the side of a fifth wheel). We got to watch  Young Frankenstein which everyone there has seen numerous times, but is so silly that it is funny.

Some of us walked and a lot drove in, in their golf carts.

I guess we have turned into Arizonans because all the spectators soon got chilly. It was only down to about 58 degrees.

Shuffle board has started already and we are playing three days per week.

Have I mentioned that I like my time in Yuma?

Thanks for visiting.

My Birthday Girl

Yuma, Arizona        High 89 Low 64

It is still a little warm but the weather for the few days before yesterday was a nice lower 80 during the day and the low 60's at night. We didn't even turn on the Air Conditioning for 3 days.

Cindy had a birthday and we (I) invited some of of our Yuma friends over for cake and ice cream. I tried to make it a surprise for her, but she saw me whispering to one of our friends and figured out what was going on. Then I put the cake and ice cream in the outside fridge and she went looking for something and I was busted.

Not everyone I invited could make it but we still had probably 20 people. We talked about the summer and got all caught up on our lives. I think everyone liked getting together with their winter friends. Cindy told me later that she was glad I had the birthday party for her.

We have also started the Palms Bike Brigade three times per week. For this early in the year, we have had a good turn-out. We ride for about 30 minutes each night and ride about 4 miles. I like to think it helps keep some of us old people younger, but I'm not sure. This year I'm able to keep up a lot better than when I first started riding the bike with them.

Penny has been to the small dog park a few times and one day there were 7 small dogs there. She had fun running around with a one year old that was a little bigger then her.

Cindy has finish sewing quite a few quilts. I will be way behind on my quilting when we get home.

Yesterday we found an estate sale that had material in it. We tried to be the first there and made it to see the material before any one else. Yes I know, we don't really need any more material, but when you can get about 20 yards of material for $15.00, it is kind of hard to turn down, and besides whoever has the most material wins.

We are enjoying our time here.

Thanks for visiting.

One More Day In Paradise

Yuma, Arizona           High 82 Low 61

Last evening we started to hear thunder and while there was quite a lot of lightning to the east, we didn't get any rain.

I tried to get some pictures of the lightning but all I was able to get were some pictures with the clouds lit up but not actual lightning.

You can't really tell but all the light on the bottom of the clouds was caused by lightning.

We have had some interesting clouds yesterday and today.

Sunny today with a few clouds.

The weather right now is almost as nice as we could ask for.

On a more serious side, last week I went to Algodones to get a tooth I lost a filling from repaired. First I went to the dentist to see what could be done and she had to send me to a specialist to have a root canal. While I was there she found two cavities in my front teeth which she filled. I was there in her chair for an hour. Then I went to the specialist. Cindy had gone with me and wanted to go for a walk while he worked on my tooth. When she asked how long I would be the receptionist told her about an hour.

Two hours later I finally got to leave, after sitting in a dentists chair for three hours. The specialist told me I could go back to the dentist the same day to get fitted for the cap and I told the original dentist that I would pass on the fitting the same day but would come back another day. three hours was long enough.

Two days later I went back and got the fitting which took almost another hour. I was glad I didn't stay the first day.

Only one more trip and I will have a new cap.

Things in this park are still kind of quiet since the don't really get going until Halloween but life is good.

Thanks for visiting.

Perfect Weather

Yuma, Arizona         High 84 Low 62

After all the rain last week, the weather today couldn't have been better. We went for a couple of walks, one of which we took Penny to the small dog park. At first she was the only dog there, but another small dog showed up after a little while.

We didn't know the dog, but the two of them seemed to get along alright. After some sniffing they seemed to just ignore each other. It was still a little warm for them while we were there.

There are a lot more people showing up almost every day. The activities in the Park don't start until after Halloween and then a person can stay as busy as they want to.

The weather back in Utah has been rainy for the past week and looks like it will keep up for the next week.

We got some picture of the mountains by Salt Lake City and there is snow. I'm glad we are here and not back there even though we probably came to Yuma two weeks early.

It looks plenty cold up there. These pictures are looking at the Wasatch Mountains east of Salt Lake Valley.

Thanks for visiting.

Rain And Wind

Yuma, Arizona           High 96 Low 77

We have had rain and wind predicted from Hurricane Rosa. It now has been downgraded to a tropical storm. It was supposed to hit tomorrow, but just after noon today we started to hear thunder. Then the wind came up blowing sand so much that we could hardly see across the street.

Then about 2:00 the rain started. Our back patio soon was covered with water and we were able to see water coming off the roof across the street.

Waterfall!

Looking out our front door, it looked like a flood coming out of the sky. I need to mention that Yuma's normal rainfall is about 3 1/2 inches per year and we got way more than that this afternoon.

One of the other Park residents told us about some trees down and we decided to go look after the rain stopped.

Good thing this tree fell on the street sign and not on the house it is (was) by.

The grass area by us was flooded as was the small dog park. Penny has been wanting to go to the small dog park since we have been here and today while we were so close, she insisted we visit the park, so we took her.

This is the grass by us. Looks like a lake.

Once last year the water got just inside the fence. This time the whole small dog park is flooded.

After we got there she decided she didn't want to swim, so we walked back home.

We could see on the roads how high the water had been and so it was no wonder the grassy areas were flooded. They were designed to be low places in the Park for flood retention and it was good because they worked.

We have had water on the small dog park and the grass by us before, but it wasn't near as much as this storm.

The weather guessers are saying more rain tonight, tomorrow, and into Tuesday. We were told that today's storm wasn't as bad as we are getting later. We are hoping it doesn't flood us out.

Thanks for visiting.

Moving Our Thermostat

Yuma, Arizona               High 102 Low 77

Yes it's still warm! Almost too warm to be out during the heat of the day.

We finally got the yard clean-up finished. It took so long because of the above reason and that we didn't feel like we were in any mad rush to get finished.

Today I started moving our thermostat on our home here in Yuma. In my past life as a heating contractor one of the things you never, ever did was locate the thermostat by any exterior door. And normal height for residential was 52 inches from the floor. Commercial height was 60 inches and handicap was 48 inches.

On this home the thermostat was right next to the front door and set at commercial height. It has bothered me since we have had this home and I decided it was time to do something about it. Where it was located, we got the heat from the morning sun and if it were cold outside, the cool from the door whenever it was opened.

I had to dill a hole in the floor to get a longer wire to the new thermostat location. Cindy had to help me with the fish tape and hooking the wire on so I could pull the new wire down but we got it completed.

The job isn't finished because by the time we got the wire into the crawl space it was getting too warm to disconnect the old thermostat and to get into the crawl space again.

We will finish the move tomorrow. The new thermostat is on the wall (and so is the old one). Then I will have some patching to do and a little painting.

In the above picture both thermostats are visible.

Last spring one of our neighbors had Cindy make here a quilt for her bed, which we got quilted while we were in Utah. We brought it with us and gave it to her. She thanked us with an edible bouquet. She wanted to pay us for our work, but she has done so many things for us, that we declined payment. She live here alone all year, leaving for short times during the summer. She looks after things for us and waters plants if needed in addition the the Parks system so all is good.

Thanks for visiting.

Why Are We Here?

Yuma, Arizona         High 101  Low 79

We left Riverton Wednesday and drove straight through to Yuma. It was an 11 1/2 hour drive. I'm afraid I am old enough that I don't think I would enjoy that long a drive by myself, but of coarse I'm not 18 any longer. Cindy drives about half the way. We only take our car to Yuma, not the truck and fiver.

When we got here our yard was in as bad of shape as it has been since we first came here. The neighbors told us that they had high winds at the end of summer which blew lots of sand around. A lot of it ended up in our back yard.

We have spent the last two days cleaning up sand and leaves and still aren't finished. It really is too hot in the middle of the day to be working outside so it is going to take us a while to finish up.

We came here two weeks earlier than before and probably will wait until the first of October before heading south another time.

To answer the question above: We are here because we can be, but are going to be a little later next time.

Thanks for visiting.