November in Phoenix

Here we are another day in paradise but one person short, we have had Elaines mom with us for the last month but yesterday she had to fly home to the cold.  It was a tearful day but we hear she made it safe and sound and we are sure she will be glad to be home and get back to her routine.

While she was here we tried to get out and do a few things, last week we went up to Fountain Hills and around by Scottsdale here are a couple of those pictures.

 Mom and Ron in front of the fountain, it goes off on the hour, every hour as long as it is not to windy.

 We heard that the Mesa Community College had a nice rose garden so Elaine got brave and drove down the freeway and found the right exit, those 6 lane road can give you the chills when you are not used to driving them. The roses were not quite as nice as the ones in our park but there were lots of them.

 We had a big Thanksgiving dinner here in the park and then everyone gets started decorating for Christmas. The only display we could find to take her to see before she went home was at the temple of the Latter Day Saints and it truly was beautiful.

Well we hope she had a good visit with us and that her winter will be at least a little shorter now.

Last night we took in a movie we had been waiting to see, Lincoln, it was good but a little drawn out. Okay so bring on December we are ready for it, Curt, our oldest grandson, comes to visit in just under a month. Yippee.......wish the rest of the gang could come too.... Love to all

Train, Football, Riparian

The park we are in has its own railway, the Vale del Oro Railway and they got it up and running so we had to go get a couple pictures

Lots of work has been put into it, some fellows hobby

 Last night we went to watch the Mesa Thunderbirds beat the Glendale football team, it was one chilly night

 Tried to get a picture of the Tbird kicker no. 93 Kevin Jones in action but was not successful so this is the best I could come up with(Elaine has a nephew by the same name)

 Today we went to the Gilbert Riparian Preserve and were amazed it was very beautiful for being in the middle of a city. Lona, Elaine and Alberta(Elaines mom)

 Beautiful cactus gardens

 We found some turtles

 Some not so wild geese

This one was staring me down

 And tons of birds, this one was walking on water

 A couple cranes

 There were walking paths all around the seven ponds with different scenery around every corner

The warmer weather is coming back tomorrow and we are looking forward to that.

Valle de Oro

I thought some would like to see the park we are staying in for the next two months.  It is very large, just like its own little city.  We got a really good deal, financially and are very pleased so far.

Below is the street we live on, lots of park models

 The weather has been fantastic, in the 80's everyday.  The grapefruit are ripening and getting some good size to them.

 Also the oranges, there are many trees all around the park.

 This is the lawns on one side of the club house, there are buildings for everything you want to do, wood work, ceramics, sewing room, pool tables, exercise, cards, the list goes on and on and on

 This stand at the entrance to the office, the people here are oh so friendly.

 Two big swimming pools, this one is the lap pool.

 A place to curl up around the fire.

 Of course Bocci, all lit up at night

 And the slickest shuffleboards.

 Here is the second pool with the tiki bar in the background, and two big hot tubs

 This is the entrance into the clubhouse., They have their own baseball field and team, tennis courts etc, you cannot be bored at Valle de Oro in Mesa.