Saturday – December 23 – This morning was cold and foggy, but about 11 the fog burned off, the sun came out and it turned into a nice day. I did some laundry this morning so am good now till after Christmas. John replaced the opener on the screen door today, now it will be much easier to open and everyone won’t be asking how they get out! He did a few odds and ends and we both just puttered around.

We had thought we could avoid the stores until after Christmas but John needed some screws so we went to Loews and surprisingly it wasn’t busy. They had all their Christmas stuff marked 50% off but there sure wasn’t much left. We came back and did our Christmas picture to send to the kids and family, now hopefully they will send us some pictures of them together for Christmas.

Friday – December 22 – Well, what crappy weather! I thought it was going to get sunny so put out a jar of sun tea, next thing I know it is overcast and then it’s raining, not nice!! We went out this afternoon and got propane and groceries so now we are good till after Christmas. We took a different way back today and saw some nice new subdivisions and found a Safeway grocery store, so now there are lots of options for groceries.

There is a company who will come into the park and fill your propane tank for $31, today we found a RV store and got it filled for $15.90, big difference! We also got a couple of odds and ends we needed, so all in all a good stop.

It was still drizzling when we got back so John had to bbq in the rain – he said it reminded him of home! Wouldn’t you know that last night when it was nice we had pasta for dinner so he didn’t have to bbq – quess I know how to pick them.

Thursday – December 21 – Today was another nice sunny day and warm in the sun but the wind was cool. We had a quiet day, John cleaned the truck and trailer and I went over and found the library. I got a couple of books, then spent the afternoon doing a bit of crocheting and reading. Real exciting!

Wednesday – December 20 – Today was sunny but still cool, only the mid 50’s but it is supposed to get warmer every day. Today I did a major cleaning and John washed the trailer, the little bit of rain we got on Sunday seemed to be filled with dirt and left the trailer filthy. We went out for a bit this afternoon, nothing too exciting.

I stopped at Beall’s outlet, lots of good buys but you need time to poke through stuff and try it on and that is not something that is done with John in tow. I will go in by myself some day and take my time wandering around.

There is an article in the paper today about a neighbourhood in Gilbert (a suburb of Phoenix) and all their Christmas lights. The homes are multi-million dollar colonial-style houses and apparently each year neighbours try to outdo each other. They even have extra electrical boxes to keep up with the surge of power from the displays. We will have to try and get up and find this area, it sounds quite interesting.

Tuesday – December 19 – Today was laundry day so I got that done this morning, it cost $5.00 to wash and dry 3 loads, I can’t complain about that. It was nice this morning but clouded over this afternoon and cooled off.

We did a bit of shopping this afternoon and Fry’s had some good deals, so now my freezer is like the proverbial turkey – stuffed! Now, for everyone’s laugh for the day – I was asked for I.D. at Wal-Mart when checking out with some wine and beer!!!! I think the poor cashier needs her eyes checked but I walked out of there like I was walking on a cloud! John was not impressed. That was it for the day, we came back and had wings, Caesar salad and garlic bread for dinner – decadent.

Monday – December 18 – Today was a nice day, mostly sunny but a bit on the cool side still. We went for our free coffee and donut at 9 this morning and I was amazed, the room was packed! They have coffee & donuts every Monday morning (except for Christmas & New Years) and they make the weeks announcements at this time. We sat with a couple from B.C. and it turns out she has a sister living in Orangeville! This is a very friendly park, everyone speaks to you, I think it is the friendliest park we have ever been in. Most of the people here are seasonal and I think most of them have been coming for quite a long time, this is the 14^th year for the couple from B.C.

After coffee we headed up to Phoenix and went to Ikea, Camping World, Best Buy and had lunch. I finally found a footstool at Ikea that is not too large so am looking forward to being able to get my feet up again when I am reading or watching TV!

What a busy place Phoenix and the surrounding cities are, and so large, we came back through the country and it was a nice drive and not as busy as the interstate. We saw lots of cotton fields and lots of saguaros which I find so fascinating as each one is a different shape. We saw some bales of cotton in the fields but most of it has been taken off to the gin for processing. All in all it was a very pleasant day.

Saturday we bought a Santa and a candy cane that light up for the two windows that don’t open (the one by the dinette and the one by the door) so we have at least a bit of Christmas decoration. We also have Grandmas little ceramic Christmas tree on the dinette table, and the Swarovski snowman on the window sill, but unfortunately it is hard to find places to put decorations in here. We also have a couple of sparkly stars hanging but that is about it for decorations. Oh well, better than nothing and we can walk around the park and enjoy everyone else’s decorations!

Sunday – December 17 – Today was overcast and it actually sprinkled a few time, a lady told John this morning that this is the first rain in 65 days, and the little bit we got wouldn’t do a lot of good. It was cool today but is supposed to warm up again by mid week.

We had a quiet day, I read and John worked on an article to send Derrick re his great, great grandfather’s service during WW1. Derrick is going to Vimy in April and has to do a project on someone who fought during the first world war.