Dec 17 catching up

Once again I am SO far behind!  We continued our trip, stopping off at Deming, NM at the Dream Catcher and stayed a couple nights, meeting and enjoying some quality time with Fran and Rich Tilgner, including going out to eat at a great pizza place! 

Then we headed out once again and stopped in Benson, AZ at the Saguaro Escapees park where we stayed 6 nights.  Very nicely landscaped park, nice people too!  We didn’t do a lot of sightseeing, but did get into Tucson twice – once to visit with Jim Alley and his wife…the name is simply gone, sorry.  That is what happens when it takes me too long to update!  We also went to Tanque Verde Guest Ranch for a delightful brunch!

Our next stop was 3 miles away at Butterfield RV resort, where we enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner.  We also met Bill Roach and Loretta Perno, facebook friends that we met a little over a year ago.  We shared a table at Thanksgiving and went to a place called WildDogz on black Friday and had a wonderful lunch!  David is a big fan of ‘chicago dogs’ :)

We left Benson and drove to Casa Grande where we stayed at KOFA co-op, yet another Escapee park.  I believe it is the smallest one, but it was nice enough.  Since we were only there 1 night we really didn’t get a good overview, and it was a weekend so no Social hours…maybe next time!

We arrived at ‘our’ lot here in Yuma on Sunday, Dec 1st.  We’ve been having a great time!  On 55th Street in the foothills, they decorate big time – so big that there is a ‘LIGHT UP PARTY’ on Dec 10th.  Then every night thereafter someone ‘hosts’ the street.  They hand out candy to all (Santa is there too most nights) and dog biscuits to anyone with a pooch!  At the ‘host’ site, behind their gate they put out goodies for the people on the street.  Some folks do hot chocolate, hot apple cider, and munchies.  Walkers and Koehlers will be hosting 2 nights, the 18th and the 23rd.  We are going all out, they are making brats w/kraut, Gertrude is doing veggies and dips with other munchies, we are making macaroni salad, fudge, date & nut cake, cheese balls and pretzels…

Here are some pictures of the places lit up!  As always click on the picture to make them larger.  It is wonderful!

 

The people just keep walking and driving down the street, even buses!  The candy givers get on the buses and hand out candy, and if there are kids, Santa gets on the bus too!  Last year they had 23 buses in one night!  It is gonna be busy I’m sure, but also a lot of fun!

 

We had a great visit here with our friends from Riverton, WY, Lynn and Joyce Marlatt, they were here for the light up party…here they are

David and Lynn have been friends since 7th grade in school – now that is an enduring friendship!  They have gone several years with little to no contact, but they’ve kept in touch frequently the past couple years.  Joyce and I are getting to know each other pretty well too!  It was a nice visit but TOO SHORT!  You’ll notice we were all bundled up, ‘cause it was COLD after the sun went down!  In the low 50’s and with a desert wind…brrrr.  I guess we were lucky, it was –7 in WY, and sleeting and freezing in Hondo, TX. 

 

We’ve heard from friends Mel and Thelma May, from the Columbine Caravan in Colorado, and we will be getting together with them as well as Ray and Rita Rogers one evening :)