As I telegraphed on the last post, we went out with all the crew for ribs on Robin's birthday (Jan 19). Unfortunately, Robin and I had a slightly late lunch and then we hit the BBQ joint at 5pm, so I wasn't overly hungry. But the ribs were good, everyone had a great time, and most of us brought home leftovers (most of my meal came home). The next morning there was a 4th Ave breakfast at a nearby restaurant (about 40 showed up). I can rarely pass up a yummy omelette, so between the rib house on the 19th and the breakfast on the 20th, I was pretty much set for the week (or at least until dinner time with my leftovers).
The weather had really turned by the 20th, with rain off and on overnight and throughout the days, low temperatures and wind.
I mentioned in my last post that Burton Cummings had performed at our resort. He was here for two nights (we attended the first night, Sunday). Heard a story later Monday that the resort had arranged the set up of some tables and chairs in one of the halls for a luncheon for him and his entourage on Monday (must have been set up the night before). The hall is where the yoga classes are usually held (they just follow a video - no live instructor this year). Well, I guess the folks that organize the class arrived to find the stuff all set up, and got in a huff and started dismantling everything. Presumably, they hadn't been advised by the resort that the hall wasn't available, and rather than take a moment and find out why the stuff was there, they just started folding up and stacking tables and chairs. I gather someone came along and told them to stop, and why, so they did, but they just walked away and left everything. So much for serenity. Some of the work crew (including our friend, Mike) that had done the original set up had to go back and do it again.
Movie night is Sunday, and on the 22nd they were showing "Secret Life of Pets". Wanted to see it, so off we went with Tim & Marieanne and John & Fran. We sat through 15 minutes of the guy trying to get subtitles working for those who had hearing issues (he never succeeded), but when they did finally start the movie, they couldn't get enough volume for most of us to hear anyway. About a dozen people left (the 6 of us included) about two minutes in, and apparently a lot more after that. They have since determined what the problem was and can now move forward for future movie nights.
Monday (23rd) found Robin up and dressed bright and early to head off to shuffleboard with John & Fran for 8:30. Hadn't realized he was going, and had only arisen about 1/2 hour before, so didn't join them. He had a lot of fun and says he will keep going. I guess he is now officially a senior citizen. Actually, I had agreed to go on Wednesday, but when we got up it was about 2 degrees and we opted out. Friday was the same, so I guess our shuffleboard careers will have to wait until the weather warms up a bit. Monday night found us at John & Fran's for a rousing evening of crib. There were 8 of us and we switched partners after each game was finished. Lots of fun.
Tuesday (24th) we did a dry run to the Phoenix airport to figure out where we need to go and how to get to the cell lot, for when my sister comes to visit next month. Easy enough to get there, but we found their signage somewhat lacking. We drove through one side of the arrivals area, which is under cover with no advance signage indicating your choices when you get out from underneath. The signs are overhead and outside of the covered area, which is right where the different routes veer off from the roadway. We came through in the far left lane (to stay out of the way of vehicles actually picking up on that side of the terminal) and discovered as we exited the covered area that we needed to be over in the far right lane to take the route we wanted around to the other side of the arrivals terminal. Then, the first sign to get back into the regular outgoing flow of traffic is down low and right at the exit, so we shot by that. Fortunately, the arrivals lanes eventually feeds into outgoing traffic. Overhead signs indicating straight ahead to the cell lots were over to the left side (three lanes), so you're over on the left and suddenly you see a sign right at an off ramp over on the right indicating cell lot this way. This is why it turned out to be a good idea to do a dry run. We actually went around a couple of times to be sure we were on the right routes. We're ready for you, Cindy.
Tuesday evening Tim & Marieanne joined us for a few hands of Phase 10 - a new card game we played when in Lethbridge (and have since purchased). Another enjoyable evening with great people.
Thursday (26th) we headed out with Stu & Carol to watch the Canucks vs Coyotes. Didn't really think ahead, and started out about 4pm with the idea of getting dinner near the arena before the game. Normally, the drive to the arena should take about an hour (the drive home took about 45 minutes). But, DOH!!, it's rush hour and we got caught up in the crawl. Took us over 1.5 hours.
The restaurant we had chosen (Saddle Ranch) was packed. We didn't realize we had come in a side door, and just sat ourselves down at a table that was clear, but hadn't been wiped down. Eventually a server stopped and asked if the hostess had seated us. Nope! So Robin went up front and got it sorted out and we didn't have to move. Shortly after, someone was there to clean up the table top and drop off some cutlery and our server showed up. Fun young woman, and good service considering how busy they were. Food was good and she brought us a complimentary dessert to share (a big brownie with ice cream and whipped cream on the side) because we had inquired about one that we had seen carried by. Finished up in time to arrive at the arena just as the national anthems were being sung. From then on it was a snooze fest. Oh well, still a fun evening out with good friends.
Friday (27th) was a (relatively) cold and blustery day. Spent most of it in the motorhome, despite frequent thoughts about venturing out for some retail therapy. We did venture over to poolside for happy hour, but only stayed about 30 minutes because it was so cold. Tried sitting out in the sun at Stu & Carol's site, but eventually the wind drove us all inside. We did venture out again to the Friday night dance about 8pm, more to just harass Jim & Colleen who are workampers and work the dances. Mike & Lynn were already there, and we stayed until they turned up the lights and kicked us out (10pm). Excellent band who is very popular around town (Tory Edwards). He is also a music teacher and brought up a couple of young boys (I'm guessing pre-teen) to play drums and guitar for one song. We saw them outside after with their parents and they are actually two of triplets. Their sister was there, and apparently she is the singer, although we couldn't get her to sing for us. They were absolutely adorable. Hope to see them again.
Saturday (28th) was cool and windy. Just took it easy. Sunday the weather started to turn and we had a sunny, non-windy day. Went back for movie night on Sunday and everything was working OK. Saw "Something's Got to Give" with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton. Good movie.
Monday (30th) was sunny and warm. Robin headed out to the mountains again for a hike. I did a walk through the RV park. Joined others on the patio for happy hour and it was wonderful being able to sit out again in capris and a sleeveless top (me, not Robin -he had on a lovely floral print sundress).
Tuesday (31st) was another sunny and warm day. I think the weather has made the turn we have been waiting for and we are getting back to what we are here for. We spent the day doing laundry, packing and getting the motorhome ready for non-occupancy for the next week, as we head off to Disneyland in the morning. Meeting Alison and family on Thursday for 5 nights in Anaheim. We have passes for 4 days at Disneyland, so may need a couple of days for recovery when we get back. I have already confirmed that there are scooters and wheelchairs for rent in the Magic Kingdom. Wish me luck. We joined friends from Prince George (Terry, Janet & his sister, Debbie) at Red Lobster in honour of Terry's birthday, then back home to finish getting ready for DLand.
Until next time, dear readers.
The weather had really turned by the 20th, with rain off and on overnight and throughout the days, low temperatures and wind.
I mentioned in my last post that Burton Cummings had performed at our resort. He was here for two nights (we attended the first night, Sunday). Heard a story later Monday that the resort had arranged the set up of some tables and chairs in one of the halls for a luncheon for him and his entourage on Monday (must have been set up the night before). The hall is where the yoga classes are usually held (they just follow a video - no live instructor this year). Well, I guess the folks that organize the class arrived to find the stuff all set up, and got in a huff and started dismantling everything. Presumably, they hadn't been advised by the resort that the hall wasn't available, and rather than take a moment and find out why the stuff was there, they just started folding up and stacking tables and chairs. I gather someone came along and told them to stop, and why, so they did, but they just walked away and left everything. So much for serenity. Some of the work crew (including our friend, Mike) that had done the original set up had to go back and do it again.
Movie night is Sunday, and on the 22nd they were showing "Secret Life of Pets". Wanted to see it, so off we went with Tim & Marieanne and John & Fran. We sat through 15 minutes of the guy trying to get subtitles working for those who had hearing issues (he never succeeded), but when they did finally start the movie, they couldn't get enough volume for most of us to hear anyway. About a dozen people left (the 6 of us included) about two minutes in, and apparently a lot more after that. They have since determined what the problem was and can now move forward for future movie nights.
Monday (23rd) found Robin up and dressed bright and early to head off to shuffleboard with John & Fran for 8:30. Hadn't realized he was going, and had only arisen about 1/2 hour before, so didn't join them. He had a lot of fun and says he will keep going. I guess he is now officially a senior citizen. Actually, I had agreed to go on Wednesday, but when we got up it was about 2 degrees and we opted out. Friday was the same, so I guess our shuffleboard careers will have to wait until the weather warms up a bit. Monday night found us at John & Fran's for a rousing evening of crib. There were 8 of us and we switched partners after each game was finished. Lots of fun.
Tuesday (24th) we did a dry run to the Phoenix airport to figure out where we need to go and how to get to the cell lot, for when my sister comes to visit next month. Easy enough to get there, but we found their signage somewhat lacking. We drove through one side of the arrivals area, which is under cover with no advance signage indicating your choices when you get out from underneath. The signs are overhead and outside of the covered area, which is right where the different routes veer off from the roadway. We came through in the far left lane (to stay out of the way of vehicles actually picking up on that side of the terminal) and discovered as we exited the covered area that we needed to be over in the far right lane to take the route we wanted around to the other side of the arrivals terminal. Then, the first sign to get back into the regular outgoing flow of traffic is down low and right at the exit, so we shot by that. Fortunately, the arrivals lanes eventually feeds into outgoing traffic. Overhead signs indicating straight ahead to the cell lots were over to the left side (three lanes), so you're over on the left and suddenly you see a sign right at an off ramp over on the right indicating cell lot this way. This is why it turned out to be a good idea to do a dry run. We actually went around a couple of times to be sure we were on the right routes. We're ready for you, Cindy.
Tuesday evening Tim & Marieanne joined us for a few hands of Phase 10 - a new card game we played when in Lethbridge (and have since purchased). Another enjoyable evening with great people.
Thursday (26th) we headed out with Stu & Carol to watch the Canucks vs Coyotes. Didn't really think ahead, and started out about 4pm with the idea of getting dinner near the arena before the game. Normally, the drive to the arena should take about an hour (the drive home took about 45 minutes). But, DOH!!, it's rush hour and we got caught up in the crawl. Took us over 1.5 hours.
The restaurant we had chosen (Saddle Ranch) was packed. We didn't realize we had come in a side door, and just sat ourselves down at a table that was clear, but hadn't been wiped down. Eventually a server stopped and asked if the hostess had seated us. Nope! So Robin went up front and got it sorted out and we didn't have to move. Shortly after, someone was there to clean up the table top and drop off some cutlery and our server showed up. Fun young woman, and good service considering how busy they were. Food was good and she brought us a complimentary dessert to share (a big brownie with ice cream and whipped cream on the side) because we had inquired about one that we had seen carried by. Finished up in time to arrive at the arena just as the national anthems were being sung. From then on it was a snooze fest. Oh well, still a fun evening out with good friends.
Friday (27th) was a (relatively) cold and blustery day. Spent most of it in the motorhome, despite frequent thoughts about venturing out for some retail therapy. We did venture over to poolside for happy hour, but only stayed about 30 minutes because it was so cold. Tried sitting out in the sun at Stu & Carol's site, but eventually the wind drove us all inside. We did venture out again to the Friday night dance about 8pm, more to just harass Jim & Colleen who are workampers and work the dances. Mike & Lynn were already there, and we stayed until they turned up the lights and kicked us out (10pm). Excellent band who is very popular around town (Tory Edwards). He is also a music teacher and brought up a couple of young boys (I'm guessing pre-teen) to play drums and guitar for one song. We saw them outside after with their parents and they are actually two of triplets. Their sister was there, and apparently she is the singer, although we couldn't get her to sing for us. They were absolutely adorable. Hope to see them again.
Saturday (28th) was cool and windy. Just took it easy. Sunday the weather started to turn and we had a sunny, non-windy day. Went back for movie night on Sunday and everything was working OK. Saw "Something's Got to Give" with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton. Good movie.
Monday (30th) was sunny and warm. Robin headed out to the mountains again for a hike. I did a walk through the RV park. Joined others on the patio for happy hour and it was wonderful being able to sit out again in capris and a sleeveless top (me, not Robin -he had on a lovely floral print sundress).
Tuesday (31st) was another sunny and warm day. I think the weather has made the turn we have been waiting for and we are getting back to what we are here for. We spent the day doing laundry, packing and getting the motorhome ready for non-occupancy for the next week, as we head off to Disneyland in the morning. Meeting Alison and family on Thursday for 5 nights in Anaheim. We have passes for 4 days at Disneyland, so may need a couple of days for recovery when we get back. I have already confirmed that there are scooters and wheelchairs for rent in the Magic Kingdom. Wish me luck. We joined friends from Prince George (Terry, Janet & his sister, Debbie) at Red Lobster in honour of Terry's birthday, then back home to finish getting ready for DLand.
Until next time, dear readers.