We're Still Alive! Papago Park, Truck Shell, Friends, Elks, and Desert Botanical Garden!

Sorry there haven't been any updates lately.  We've had a busy time at the Angels spring training and then being lazy on our days off!  Going back through photos on my phone reminds me of all the things we've done during our time in Arizona.

While waiting for the spring training games to begin we did a little sight seeing and took care of some projects.

We did a short hike up to Hole-In-The-Rock in Papago Park.

View from the hole.

Nancy getting a good view of downtown Phoenix.

The hole in the rock is where we hiked up and in to.

Another day we drove up to Prescott to get the shell installed on our truck.  Now we have more storage space for stuff!  

An once back to our parking spot at Palm Gardens RV Park we were treated with an awesome sunset put on by mother nature!  A storm is coming.....

We also got together with a couple we met in New Mexico while we attended the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta last October.  We kept in touch since then knowing we would all be in the Phoenix area in February and March.

One day we drove to Casa Grande to visit with Dorothy and Jerry and their dog, Sadie.

Jerry, Dorothy, Nancy, and Al

Sadie smiling for her photo!

Dorothy and Jerry were our first dinner guests in the trailer.  Al cooked his famous cilantro rice, salmon, and a veggie.  We all fit just fine at our kitchen table.

And another day they came to our park in Mesa and we went to the courtyard to have lunch and listen to live music.

Al, Jerry, and Dorothy

Dorothy used to live in Mesa, AZ many years ago and turned us on to my new favorite Italian restaurant in Tempe.  They were doing Weight Watchers and saved their extra points to take us to RigaTony's.

We enjoyed our times spent with Dorothy, Jerry, and Sadie and I'm sure we'll see them again down the road somewhere.  They will be spending their summer as camp hosts in Springfield, Missouri.  

Al finally became an Elk member.  The Elks are RV friendly as most of their lodges have RV parking for reasonable rates.  We've been trying to become members since we hit the road last August but most parks require a membership process that takes two months.  We're not in the same city or possibly state for that length of time.  While in Mesa, Al inquired at the Scottsdale lodge and their process was just two weeks!  Al went through the process and now here's one of Scottsdale's newest members!

Once Al became a member we went right to work and volunteered for their twice monthly steak nights.  We worked as food runners and that was an opportunity to meet other members and serve the lodge.  We ended up volunteering for three of their steak nights and they were so appreciative.  The steak dinners with mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and roll & butter were just $16 for ribeye and $15 for filet!  Cheap and so delicious!  After serving so many great smelling meals, we had to eat them ourselves!  We haven't eaten this much red meat before in our lives!

Another day Al heard on the news that the Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden was celebrating their birthday and admission was only $8 and they were giving out free birthday cupcakes!

Glass cactus sculpture

The park was started by George Lindsay who went to Baja, Mexico and collected a truckload of different cacti species in 1939.  Many of those original plants are still alive in the park and since that time the park has expanded.  

ET phone home!

 The park had so many cool looking cacti.  I didn't realize there were so many different types!

Toothpick Cactus

Brave flowers

Arizona's version of a snow man!

Bad hair day

The weather was so weird this winter in Arizona and most of the United States!  It was much colder than usual and a few days it even snowed in the Phoenix area.  We didn't get snow where we were parked but a short drive north east of our location and we were in snow.  Next time I'll show you photos of our day in the snow!