Travelog: The Mesa Market
Visualize 4 tented rows, each about 2 blocks long, filled with stuff to buy -- that's the Mesa Market. It was located just a matter of minutes from where we were staying, and was open for business Thursday through Sunday. The intriguing part about it is that 99% of the goods were new, and only about 10% was junk!! "So what did you buy?", I hear you asking. After one day to just walk most of it we decided to return to purchase a number of things we couldn't live without, i.e. golf clubs, Arizona T shirt, sink strainers (it's an RV thing), Mexican Train Dominos (another RV thing), salsa maker, a carved roadrunner, turquoise chips, a mini-muffin tin, a leather belt, and a $2 pipe wrench. We passed up such wonders as Mexican metal art, silver jewelry, dashboard covers, red hats and purple boas, and baskets.
Another wonder of Mesa was Organ Pipe Pizza - a 2 story restaurant that could accomodate about 1,000 people. Yes, they did serve quite tasty pizza, but the drawing card was a gigantic organ, front and center on a mechanical stage that could be raised or lowered. The entertainment ran the gamut from old favorites such as "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" to the national anthems for both Canada and the US. And it played to a sellout crowd every night. If we didn't want pizza, we went down the street to the Mexican restaurant for $2 margaritas.
Remember I mentioned buying a salsa maker? It is truly a great gadget, but more important than the salsa maker is the recipe that came with it. This is awesome salsa:
Juice of 1/2 orange
1 or 2 cloves garlic
1/2 dry onion
3 or 4 Roma tomatoes
1/4 c cilantro
1 chopped jalapeno
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp salt
Process briefly in food processor and enjoy.
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
Saturday, March 27, 2004
Ah, at last there is a bit of sunshine for us. Now if it will last long enough to dry the lawn so we can mow it!
We were running errands this morning so took advantage of the time to stop and visit the Winnebago motor homes again. And they are all still where we found them several days ago. Now we will wait for some more models to arrive within the next few weeks to see how interested we are.
We are excited that all of the children and grandchildren will be with us for Easter, so we are busy making some preparations. With limited bedrooms, we will have bodies sleeping in everything from the guest bedroom to the motor home and the Westfalia. The next challenge is arranging the living room and dining room to seat 12. The last time we were all together was the Christmas season of 1999 when we met up at Keith's in Baltimore. And now that Brian and Sheila are living in Mt. Home, Idaho, we expect to see more of them and the boys.
Travelogue: After our week in Las Vegas and having avoided losing wads of money, we spent a hard day of driving to Mesa, Arizona where we met up with Daryl and Jan Ziemer, Glen and Nancy Reinbold, and Bobbie and Brian Ziemer - all from eastern Washington. The Resort is limited to the over-55 crowd, and Daryl and Jan have stayed there in previous years. It was all new to us. Bob and Sharon Jayne and Chuck and Janet Hafner caught up with us our second week there, and we were delighted to have Gary and Carolyn Ousey spend the week with us.
Many of the sites contained permanent park models which are short, one bedroom single-wide manufactured homes. And
interspersed among the park models were we RVers. There was everything from shuffleboard to ceramics available to fill one's time, and you could start with coffee at 6:30 in the morning. There were lots of rules and everyone was very nice, except the office staff that tended to be pretty short and demanding, but we don't think we are quite ready for that scene yet.
We found the Phoenix area to be very sprawling and quite congested with traffic. We stayed in Mesa, and it took us an hour to drive to Peoria to watch the Mariners practice. They had only been in town a matter of days, and not all the players were even there, but it was fun to see some of the players up close. I could have reached out and touched Bret Boone. Unfortunately, we left before the games began, but based on what I was hearing, I think many of the games were already sold out. So much for the image of a laid-back ball game while sitting on the grass.
Next blog: Mesa Market
We were running errands this morning so took advantage of the time to stop and visit the Winnebago motor homes again. And they are all still where we found them several days ago. Now we will wait for some more models to arrive within the next few weeks to see how interested we are.
We are excited that all of the children and grandchildren will be with us for Easter, so we are busy making some preparations. With limited bedrooms, we will have bodies sleeping in everything from the guest bedroom to the motor home and the Westfalia. The next challenge is arranging the living room and dining room to seat 12. The last time we were all together was the Christmas season of 1999 when we met up at Keith's in Baltimore. And now that Brian and Sheila are living in Mt. Home, Idaho, we expect to see more of them and the boys.
Travelogue: After our week in Las Vegas and having avoided losing wads of money, we spent a hard day of driving to Mesa, Arizona where we met up with Daryl and Jan Ziemer, Glen and Nancy Reinbold, and Bobbie and Brian Ziemer - all from eastern Washington. The Resort is limited to the over-55 crowd, and Daryl and Jan have stayed there in previous years. It was all new to us. Bob and Sharon Jayne and Chuck and Janet Hafner caught up with us our second week there, and we were delighted to have Gary and Carolyn Ousey spend the week with us.
Many of the sites contained permanent park models which are short, one bedroom single-wide manufactured homes. And
interspersed among the park models were we RVers. There was everything from shuffleboard to ceramics available to fill one's time, and you could start with coffee at 6:30 in the morning. There were lots of rules and everyone was very nice, except the office staff that tended to be pretty short and demanding, but we don't think we are quite ready for that scene yet.
We found the Phoenix area to be very sprawling and quite congested with traffic. We stayed in Mesa, and it took us an hour to drive to Peoria to watch the Mariners practice. They had only been in town a matter of days, and not all the players were even there, but it was fun to see some of the players up close. I could have reached out and touched Bret Boone. Unfortunately, we left before the games began, but based on what I was hearing, I think many of the games were already sold out. So much for the image of a laid-back ball game while sitting on the grass.
Next blog: Mesa Market
Friday, March 26, 2004
TGIF - Oh, I forgot that that doesn't apply to our lives anymore!!
The past three days found us moving stuff in and out of the motor home doing laundry, replenishing food supplies, and catching up on the mail and the bills. Craig kept correspondence and bill paying in good order for us. Now we just have to settle a disagreement with Sprint with regard to a rebate for a new phone. That is addition to the shock we received while on the road. We logged on to our Sprint account which should be about $35 per month, and it had a balance in excess of $400. Seems they didn't pick up on our 2 months of free Vision when we changed our plan. Sprint, probably like lots of others, makes it almost impossible to resolve an issue. Even if you do get out of a never-ending telephone loop with automated answers, there is never a live person available who can correct anything. After about 5 days and at least as many phone calls, the bill was resolved with a balance of -$5.00. I share this just in case you are considering Sprint. For the most part they have been pretty good over the past 4 or 5 years.
The motor home is at South Side Motors to determine why we have lost 8 gallons of capacity in the gray water tank. When you only have 35 gallons to begin with, that is a significant loss. While there, we took a look at the RVs that were available. They did not have a 32 ft. Brave, but assured us they have one coming in very soon. So far, that is our favorite - IF WE WERE TO BUY ANOTHER!
Travelogue - Our first week was spent in Las Vegas to attend the wedding of Bob Jayne's daughter, Kristi, to Sam Marusich. The Catholic church was awesomely spacious and very modern. The bride was beauiful and the flowers were distinctive in that there were just two low arrangements at the foot of the altar. They were stunning with white and maroon colored lillies accented with greenery with a contemporary upswept look. The reception was at The Anthem which is a Del Webb golfing facility high above Las Vegas. We had a glass wall affording us a view of the entire valley below. The dining room was bathed in white right down to covers on the chairs. the bride and groom had been taking dancing lessons, so their first dance was choreographed by their dance instructor. Favors for the guests was a CD of romantic ballads.
We had cool weather the entire week in Nevada, but the guys did get some sun the day they played golf in Summerlin. We stayed in a Sam's Town RV park so we were walking distance to the casino. I was more interested in eating than gambling. I think I spent fifty cents on gambling and ate there twice. We spent one afternoon downtown with a brief stop in Fremont, and I mean brief. Perhaps because it was during the day, but I felt like I was on skid row in Spokane. We briefly breezed through the Venetian on the strip and then hopped the shuttle back to the RV park.
Here is a great version of spanish rice that I learned from the groom's mother who is German and Spanish. It is basic spanish rice minus meat and with the additon of chicken stock and cumin. This worked very well in a slow-cooker:
Rice - 2 cups
1 onion, diced
Minced Garlic (2 or 3 cloves) and peppers (if desired)
Tomato Sauce - 1 large can
Diced tomatoes - 1 small can
Enough chicken stock added to tomato products to equal 4 cups
Salt and pepper
Cumin to taste
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until beginning to turn translucent. Add rice and stir to coat with oil. Place in a slow cooker with the tomato products and liquid. Season to taste with cumin (lots) before serving. As it cooks, you might choose to add more liquid, but I found it cooked to where it was dry enough for every kernel of rice to separate. Note: there is no meat called for, and it isn't missed because the cumin adds so much flavor, however, you could certainly add bacon or sausage if desired.
Next stop: Mesa, AZ
The past three days found us moving stuff in and out of the motor home doing laundry, replenishing food supplies, and catching up on the mail and the bills. Craig kept correspondence and bill paying in good order for us. Now we just have to settle a disagreement with Sprint with regard to a rebate for a new phone. That is addition to the shock we received while on the road. We logged on to our Sprint account which should be about $35 per month, and it had a balance in excess of $400. Seems they didn't pick up on our 2 months of free Vision when we changed our plan. Sprint, probably like lots of others, makes it almost impossible to resolve an issue. Even if you do get out of a never-ending telephone loop with automated answers, there is never a live person available who can correct anything. After about 5 days and at least as many phone calls, the bill was resolved with a balance of -$5.00. I share this just in case you are considering Sprint. For the most part they have been pretty good over the past 4 or 5 years.
The motor home is at South Side Motors to determine why we have lost 8 gallons of capacity in the gray water tank. When you only have 35 gallons to begin with, that is a significant loss. While there, we took a look at the RVs that were available. They did not have a 32 ft. Brave, but assured us they have one coming in very soon. So far, that is our favorite - IF WE WERE TO BUY ANOTHER!
Travelogue - Our first week was spent in Las Vegas to attend the wedding of Bob Jayne's daughter, Kristi, to Sam Marusich. The Catholic church was awesomely spacious and very modern. The bride was beauiful and the flowers were distinctive in that there were just two low arrangements at the foot of the altar. They were stunning with white and maroon colored lillies accented with greenery with a contemporary upswept look. The reception was at The Anthem which is a Del Webb golfing facility high above Las Vegas. We had a glass wall affording us a view of the entire valley below. The dining room was bathed in white right down to covers on the chairs. the bride and groom had been taking dancing lessons, so their first dance was choreographed by their dance instructor. Favors for the guests was a CD of romantic ballads.
We had cool weather the entire week in Nevada, but the guys did get some sun the day they played golf in Summerlin. We stayed in a Sam's Town RV park so we were walking distance to the casino. I was more interested in eating than gambling. I think I spent fifty cents on gambling and ate there twice. We spent one afternoon downtown with a brief stop in Fremont, and I mean brief. Perhaps because it was during the day, but I felt like I was on skid row in Spokane. We briefly breezed through the Venetian on the strip and then hopped the shuttle back to the RV park.
Here is a great version of spanish rice that I learned from the groom's mother who is German and Spanish. It is basic spanish rice minus meat and with the additon of chicken stock and cumin. This worked very well in a slow-cooker:
Rice - 2 cups
1 onion, diced
Minced Garlic (2 or 3 cloves) and peppers (if desired)
Tomato Sauce - 1 large can
Diced tomatoes - 1 small can
Enough chicken stock added to tomato products to equal 4 cups
Salt and pepper
Cumin to taste
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until beginning to turn translucent. Add rice and stir to coat with oil. Place in a slow cooker with the tomato products and liquid. Season to taste with cumin (lots) before serving. As it cooks, you might choose to add more liquid, but I found it cooked to where it was dry enough for every kernel of rice to separate. Note: there is no meat called for, and it isn't missed because the cumin adds so much flavor, however, you could certainly add bacon or sausage if desired.
Next stop: Mesa, AZ
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Here is my latest attempt to keep family and friends apprised of our daily adventures and whereabouts. Mind you, for the next few weeks the adventures will be based in Steilacoom since there are no immediate plans to wander. But then again, that could change on a moment's notice.
We arrived home yesterday afternoon after 45 days on the road traveling from Steilacoom to Las Vegas to Mesa to Tucson to Santa Fe to St George to Mt Home and then home. In the days ahead, I will regale you with highlights from our journey. It was a great trip, and I am ready to sell the house and hit the road, but I'm not so sure that Ken is fully on board with that idea yet! I will continue to work on him.
One week of the trip was spent with friends from Navy days in Nova Scotia, Gary and Carolyn Ousey. We can't match their time on the road - they returned to Victoria last week after having left home last September, but it was wonderful to see them, and it is thanks to Gary that I have been introduced to blogging! More later.
We arrived home yesterday afternoon after 45 days on the road traveling from Steilacoom to Las Vegas to Mesa to Tucson to Santa Fe to St George to Mt Home and then home. In the days ahead, I will regale you with highlights from our journey. It was a great trip, and I am ready to sell the house and hit the road, but I'm not so sure that Ken is fully on board with that idea yet! I will continue to work on him.
One week of the trip was spent with friends from Navy days in Nova Scotia, Gary and Carolyn Ousey. We can't match their time on the road - they returned to Victoria last week after having left home last September, but it was wonderful to see them, and it is thanks to Gary that I have been introduced to blogging! More later.
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