Ah the Sunshine

It is still in the 40s in the morning, but the days have been glorious and in the low 70s. It is still a bit too cool to sit outside with my morning coffee and paper.

I'm afraid this past week has not been very exciting. We have been in to Phoenix twice on specific shopping expeditions and had Gary and Della Reinbold here for dinner on Thursday evenng.

We, and the Ouseys, went to Chandler on Friday for the Beaudry RV 'roundup' which included a free barbeque lunch. Afterwards, we climbed in and out of at least two dozen motor homes ranging in price from the low $100s up to $750,000 and above. I was pleased to see that the manufacturers are putting in more and more hard surface flooring in the living areas rather than cheap carpet that gets dirty and wears out. I think two lavatories in any motor home is over the top, but I do like the rear master bath that is found in some of the diesels. But I managed to find something wrong with all of them, and was willing to come back to our humble abode.

We enjoyed the Reinbolds visit and caught up on what they have been doing. The first six months after Ken and I were married, we carpooled with them. Della and I worked downtown Spokane and the guys would drop us off and then go on out to Eastern for school. They eventually settled in Davenport and bought the local insurance agency. Their son Mike and daughter Kris are about the same ages as Keith and Colleen. Now they spend most of their time either at a condo in Anacortes or somewhere in their motor home. This winter they are here in Casa Grande at a nearby golf resort.

We were thrilled to have the Air Force IM site up and working yesterday, and with a bit of technical help from Keith, he, Brian and we were able to 'chat' . It is quite fun with a three-way conversation because there is usually something to be reading while someone else is composing. So we determined that there is a chance that all of our family could be together the first week of July. Keith and Janet and the girls arrive on the sixth, and if Brian, Sheila, and the boys can stay a day or two beyond the Fourth, it will work. What fun would that be?

I have had some interesting grocery shopping experiences that have run the gamut. There is a chain of stores in the area called Food City which would be considered lower end, but the fun is that they cater to the Mexican cuisine, and every store has its own tortillaeria with fresh warm tortillas hurtling down the conveyor belt Plus the store has all kinds of interesting ethnic foods; Knorr brand chipotle flavoring base, and some fresh vegetables that I have never seen such as grey squash which is similar in taste and texture to a zucchini.

And at the other extreme was a stop at AJ's which is a very upscale chain here in the area. A beautiful store with lots of interesting and high end foodstuffs with prices to match. But it was fun to poke around, and we only needed 2 items so we didn't blow the budget. I still rely on the commissaries for the staples, and then frequent local stores for produce and fresh items.

The Super Bowl is in the fourth quarter and then we are going to have dinner here with Gary and Carolyn - chicken enchilada casserole, Mexican rice, and spinach salad. That should make us sleep well after a late dinner! Ciao