Sunday, November 10, through Saturday, November 30, 2013: Back at Thousand Trails (Cottonwood, Part 3):

We made the eight-mile trek back to Thousand Trails in good order after having breakfast at the lodge. 

It was the first time I have ever had biscuits and gravy.  Just awful.  Do people really eat that stuff?

We ended up in a nice site two spaces away from the one we were in before.   Here I am welcoming us back to Verde Valley RV Resort!

Monday was Veterans’ Day, and we celebrated in the usual way---we put out our two flags, one with a light so it meets the protocol for flying flags at night.  The other has no light and I violate the rule every night. 
 

Ever since the current anxiety about Obamacare began, Becky has worried about the future of her health insurance policy.  (She’s one of the millions with a pre-existing illness.)  On Tuesday, she finally screwed up the courage to call her insurer and ask.  The amazing answer was that there was no impact.  That is, her policy actually was grandfathered, and she should not worry. There is so much confusion about the ACA, I hope they were correct in telling her that.    

Tuesday night we finished watching the DVD of he second seasom of House of Cards, starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright.  Kevin Spacey is perfect as a diabolical politician, and the show is very entertainng.  We got the DVD from the Redbox and had started watching it on Monday.  We ended up with a dinner of the usual tasty food from Panda Express.   

Wednesday was set aside for our house to get a thorough external wash and wax.  We didn’t do it, of course.  There are people who do that much better than we can.  The rig looks beautiful, again. 

Becky has been on the Internet looking for a sister for Ramsey for almost a month.  She was tracking a rescued Dalmatian female (named Raja) in San Diego that was due to come available any day.  It turned out that Raja had been given away weeks ago---without the knowledge or approval of the person in charge of her adoption.  On the rebound, Becky located another female (a Dalmatian, of course) who was available immediately at a small Dalmatian rescue place ("Save the Dals") in Gardena, California.  According to her picture on the Internet (below) she was likely not up to our standard for appearance, but we wanted to take a look, anyway. 

On Wednesday, she made an appointment to see Amelia on Saturday.  On Thursday, we bought a crate for Amelia, anticipating that she would be joining us on Saturday.  On Friday, right after my treatment in Sedona, we headed for Hawaiian Gardens, California, to spend the night at the La Quinta Inn (nice place)---leaving just 16 miles left to go to Gardena to meet Amelia on Saturday morning. 

We arrived at exactly 9:00 AM.  Amelia turned out to be a small, 38-pound, two-year-old, who couldn’t have been cuter.  She was much better-looking than in the picture on the internet.  The decision was a no-brainer.  Immediately after completing the adoption, we re-named her Kelsey.  The two of them are really fun to see together.

We then headed for the Comfort Inn in Palm Desert, a block away from the Thousand Trails RV Park we use a lot.  Saturday night, we had pizza in our room from the Papa John’s next door to the hotel, while we watched Ramsey and Kelsey get better acquainted.  The clerk at the pizza place spent several minutes getting our not-too-complicated order into the computer, and failed miserably.  It’s a new location, and either she is an idiot or just undertrained.  In any event, we didn’t discover the mistake until it was too late.  We enjoyed the pizza, anyway. 

 

We also watched the USC/Stanford game Saturday night.  Naturally, we hated seeing USC win.  Even worse, the lousiest announcer in the business, Brent Musburger, called the game for ABC.  In addition to his usual drivel, he constantly mispronounced the name of Conrad Ukropina, the Stanford kicker who is the son of friends of ours.

 

On Sunday morning, we had a quick breakfast at the hotel and headed off early.  At 3:00 PM, we arrived at home---finishing a 957-mile trip since we left Friday morning.  Becky drove all the way from Cottonwood to California and back.  (Thank you, Becky!)  We came back through Wickenburg, to avoid Phoenix and to vary the landscape.  There are a number of verrrry small towns in the desert going that way.  It’s amazing that people can enjoy living in those places.

Sunday night we just relaxed and watched the dogs get better acquainted.  They are great
together.  And Ramsey seems OK with Kelsey using some of his resting places.

Monday we started off returning to our normal routine, but on the way back from Sedona we stopped at a store to get a coat for Ramsey.  It’s been very cold in the morning here (low 30s) and Becky decided to give Kelsey the coat that Daisy used to use.  At the store, Ramsey got a little out of sorts and ended up biting Becky just above the wrist when she tried to fit the new coat on him.  We ended up at the emergency room and Becky got two stitches. 

While she was being treated, I walked across the parking lot to the LabCorp office and had blood drawn for a follow-up PSA test.  On the way home, we stopped for a late lunch at Quince.  I had a French Dip sandwich.  That place continues to amaze me. 

The food is uniformly delicious.  Monday night, the DirecTV receiver in the living room died, and we had to watch our favorite shows in the bedroom.  Other than that, it was a typical Monday, and the first day of the last week of my radiation treatments.

Tuesday was a more routine day.  After Sedona, we stopped at a florist and ordered a bunch of flowers to be delivered on Friday afternoon as a “thank you” to the people who are doing my radiation treatments.  We then proceeded to Red Rock State Park, and beyond, where we strolled through a pretty forest and along Oak Creek, and watched Ramsey and Kelsey enjoy the beautiful natural surroundings. 

On the way home, we also stopped at the local Catholic Church ("Immaculate Conception") to take a look inside.  We've been driving by the church every day for two months and have been curious about it but have never stopped.  It's a huge church, having seating for nearly 2,000 parishioners and is quite impressive outside.  It's also quite impressive inside.  It is not ornate, which is unusual, but it's beautiful in its simplicity.     

Late Tuesday afternoon, a very long call to DirecTV resulted in a promise to send me a new (free) High Definition DVR for the living room, and a (free) subscription to its NFL “Season Ticket” for the rest of the season.  I’m not a nut about football, but it will be nice to be able to see any game, not just the ones the networks choose to broadcast.

Wednesday was actually a routine day.  After Sedona, I stopped at Wal-Mart to get a couple of sweatshirts (winter is definitely on its way), then went home and relaxed with the dogs while Becky got her hair done.

Because the cancer treatment facility will be closed on Thanksgiving, they set up a special lunch this Thursday.  The people who work there bring the various parts of a typical Thanksgiving meal, and set it up as a buffet for the patients---all day long.  Very nice. 

I brought home a full meal of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, and all the rest.  I didn't bring home any desserts; I had two of them while I was there.  That same day, Becky received a letter from her insurance company confirmng that her coverage will not be affected by Obamacare.  

It has drizzled most of the day, so there was no desire to go outside once I returned home.  We had to watch our usual shows in the bedroom again.  I hope the new living-room DVR gets here soon.

Friday was my last day of radiation treatments, and we celebrated by having a delicious lunch at the local Plaza Bonita restaurant. 

It's a chain of 11 very good Mexican restaurants in Northern Arizona owned by a highly respected local man.  The leftovers from lunch became dinner.  Thus ended our daily treks to Sedona.

The new DVR arrived on Friday.  Hurray!  I decided to wait until Saturday to connect it.  I'm glad I did, because the existence of the new DVR revealed a major quirk that had been hidden with the old one.  Specifically, the tech who installed the old one connected up a system which involved the Internet---which was never fully explained to us.  When I connected the new one, the system by which we can watch recordings in any room, no matter where recorded, simply would not work. 

It took several hours of phone calls with several different DirecTV techs over the weekend and the removal of two different appliances that had been added to our system, to eventually solve the problem.  All is now well.

Saturday also brought a not-surprising (to me) UCLA loss to Arizona State and an upset loss by Stanford to Arizona, followed on Sunday by a big win by the Arizona Cardinals over the Indianapolis Colts (all three wins being great for the state of Arizona).  

Sunday afternoon, we headed to Flagstaff to spend the night at the La Quinta Inn, so we could easily make our Monday dentist appointments starting at 8:00AM with Dr. Benjamin Stark.  It had been raining in Cottonwood and snowing in Flagstaff all weekend, and we didn't want to take any chances.  We assume that neither Ramsey nor Kelsey had ever seen snow, so it was interesting to watch their reaction.  They were troupers. 

Sunday's dinner was from the local Panda Express, and was delicious, as usual.  The roads to and in Flagstaff were fine, but it was cold---17 degrees Monday morning.  Everything went well at Dr. Stark's.  No surprises.  We also met with Dr. Benson Monday morning. 

So far, so good.  My last PSA reading (taken a week ago) was 0.1.  It can't go any lower!  Before we headed back to Cottonwood, we stopped for lunch at Hiro's Sushi.  I had a Bento Box.  Yum!

Tuesday and Wednesday were relaxing days to shop, fill up the truck with diesel, do a little maintenance, get propane, and put out our Thanksgiving banner

Thursday was Thanksgiving, of course, so we had to have turkey somewhere.  We chose to go back to the Camp Verde RV Park to have dinner in the lodge there. 

There was one at the Thousand Trails park, as well, but we thought it would be a little less of a hassle at Camp Verde.  We were right.  We also had fun talking to our tablemates---all four of whom were from Southern California originally; we had a lot to talk about.

On Friday, we had lunch at the “grill” at our RV park with Grace Kirkwood, a fellow RVer we met recently.  She lives in the RV park next to the one we stayed at in Camp Verde. 

Becky met her while walking Ramsey one day (before we got Kelsey).  She has a large (bigger than Ramsey) Dalmatian named Simon.  She got Simon from the same rescue place where we got Kelsey!  After lunch the two women took the three dogs for a walk.  I understand it was interesting herding the three of them.

Friday night, Oregon played Oregon State.  Oregon is known for having bizarre-looking (actually, ugly) uniforms.  The ones they wore on Friday were as ugly as usual.  What was unusual was that Oregon State wore equally ugly uniforms. 

It made it very hard to watch what turned out to be a very close game.  (Oregon won 36 to 35 on a last-minute field goal.)    

Saturday involved another day of football.  UCLA surprised me by beating USC.  Stanford beat Notre Dame.  Best of all---the Alabama/Auburn game (pitting the #1 team against the #4 team) was the most exciting game I have seen in many, many years. 

The tenacity of the players on both teams was remarkable.  With the score tied and one second left on the clock, Alabama tried (unsuccessfully) a 57-yard goal, which the Auburn player fielded on the fly in the end zone and ran back 109 yards for the game-winning touchdown.  The place went crazy.  The officials didn’t even bother to make Auburn try to make the unnecessary extra point.

Saturday was also our last day in Cottonwood, so there were a few things to do to get ready to leave.  After running a few errands, we had a delicious lunch at Mai Thai On Main, a place we last visited in April.   We spent the rest of the day relaxing.  

              

           

 

 

Sunday, October 27, 2013, through Saturday, November 9, 2013: In Camp Verde (Cottonwood, Part 2):

We made the 8 mile trip to the Camp Verde RV Resort early on Sunday without incident (except that we left Willis, our steel dog sculpture at the old place by mistake; I retrieved it later).   We got a nice site, and settled in easily. 

We’ve been here before.  It’s not exciting, but we like the place.  It has a lot of grass, and that’s relaxing.  It also has an unrelated menagerie next door and Ramsey loves to interact---through the fence, of course---with the chickens and goats that come to see him.
 

We are going to be here for two weeks.  We made back-to-back one-week reservations through two of the organizations to which we belong.  The first week is to be free under one program; the second week is to be half price.  When we arrived, we were told the second reservation was invalid due to a particular rule.  We were aware of the rule, but thought we had somehow bypassed it.  Becky pleaded our case to the clerk, who agreed to see if the general manager would cut us some slack.  The next morning, the clerk called to say the manager had decided to offer to let us stay the second week for a fixed price that was actually less than what we had booked.  That was a no-brainer.  Thank you, Becky. 

Monday was a typical day---Sedona, gym, Wal-Mart.  Tuesday was very different.  After the radiation treatment, we went to an early movie at the Harkins Theatre [sic, how pretentious] in Sedona and saw Gravity, with George Clooney and Sandra Bullock. 

Wow!!!!!  It was gripping, with great special effects and well-sustained tension.  Well worth seeing.  Then we went to lunch at Szechuan, a Chinese restaurant with a Sushi Bar in Sedona.  We had gone for quite a while without sushi so it was not hard to sell me on having lunch there.  (We initially went to Hiro’s Sushi, where we had eaten before, but it was closed for some reason.)

The day was cold and windy, so we came home after lunch and just got comfortable.

Over the weekend, the fan motor in our electric fireplace started making a growling noise that indicates it is on its last legs. 

Starting on Monday, I contacted the national distributor, Panel Solutions, which is located in Elkhart, Indiana.  It’s a small operation, apparently, and its CEO is out temporarily for a medical “procedure” according to the person I talked to, Sonya, who has been with the company for less than a month and, therefore, has only limited knowledge of anything.  As a result, it took two days to determine that the fireplace is out of warranty, and, as of this writing, no one there seems to be able to figure out how to sell us a new one.

On Wednesday morning, Sonya informed me that she had figured out how to order us a new fireplace.  We completed the process and she promised we would receive our new one by Monday.  Otherwise, Wednesday was a typical day.  As was Thursday, except that our toaster died and we replaced it at the Cottonwood Ace Hardware.

On Friday, the day started out so cold that Becky decided to switch our summer and winter clothes.  That involves almost emptying our “basement” and replacing all of our stored clothes with the summer ones, and throwing out some stuff that we haven’t worn in a long time.  It’s time-consuming enough that Becky stayed back and did it while I went to Sedona (finishing the fifth of my eight weeks of therapy) and the gym.  In the afternoon, she then took a very large bag of old clothes to the Goodwill in Cottonwood. 

Saturday was the day for the Taste of the Verde Valley, held at the Cliff Castle Casino in Camp Verde.  It was fun, and we tasted some nice wine and some delicious food. 

One part of the entrance fee was set aside for a $10 chit at the casino.  After we ate and drank at the "Taste" we stopped at the casino for 15 minutes and won $43 at a slot machine.  Thank you, Cliff Castle.

After a pancake breakfast at the lodge in the RV park on Sunday, and an ensuing 11-mile bike ride by Becky, we went to the Fort Verde State Park in Camp Verde.  It's a very interesting and nicely maintained/restored place, one of the few old forts left from the Indian War days.  

Among other things, we learned where the term "Buffalo Soldiers" came from.  The Indians likened the appearance of the hair on the heads of the black soldiers to the hair on the heads of buffalo.  Very interesting and very non-PC.

Monday we went to Sedona, but not to the gym or Wal-Mart.  Instead, we tracked down a local who restores Airstream trailers.  We were looking to see if he might be in a position to advise Rick on his restoration. 

The guy is a bit of an oddball, who has three of the tiny trailers, including a 1949 model, that he uses for himself and his family.  He does quality work, but has no apparent eye for style.    

On Tuesday, our new fireplace arrived, and I installed it immediately.  It has some interesting new bells and whistles. 

On Wednesday, we received the news that our friend Alan Buckelew, the President of Princess Cruises, had been elevated to Chief Operating Officer of Carnival Cruises, the parent company of Princess.  According to the press release, Alan will have extensive duties:

Buckelew will have oversight of all maritime and port operations around the world and our group collaborative functions, including information technology; group strategy and global operations; ship retrofits; newbuilds; research and development; risk advisory; and quality assurance. Additionally, Buckelew will have oversight of Carnival Asia, with responsibility for coordinating all our brand and related activities in that part of the world.    

Congratulations, Alan!

Thursday and Friday were typical.  On Thursday, Becky went on a hike with some local women while I took Ramsey with me to Sedona.  On Friday, we went on a four-mile bike ride through the neighboring area.  It's a fairly unimpressive area of rural, mixed-use properties.   

Saturday night, we celebrated our 28th Wedding Anniversary (which is really on Sunday) by having dinner at the Schoolhouse Restaurant in Cottonwood. 

According to Trip Advisor, it's the best restaurant in Cottonwood.  Trip Advisor understated the case.  The place was marvelous.  I had a delicious filet mignon and Becky had wonderful sea scallops.  The food was complemented by a nice bottle of Cline zinfandel.  We followed with a luscious peach cobbler.  The food was divine and the service was impeccable.  (The bill was slightly incorrect, and I thoroughly enjoyed pointing out their clerical error.)  We talked with the people next to us, a youngish couple who moved here eight years ago from Southern California to live in a less expensive environment.  From all appearances, they are thriving very well.  It was a terrific way to end our two weeks in Camp Verde.