Author: Rudy

Not in that order.

Had a lazy morning. Sue phoned almost all her friends all morning. I phoned my mom and dad. Fiddled a bit more with my TV antenna — I now get NINETEEN channels over the air, originating from Tucson, some are even in English! After lunch Robert came by and we drove out to the parking lot at Superstition. It was a bit cloudy, not too hot, perfect for a hike. So, instead of NO photos today, I have a whole gallery!

We decided to go out for pizza and a movie on our descent. When we got home and checked the movie times online I realized the movie I had chosen wasn’t even being shown until mid-December. Plan B. Sue chose another movie — “Gone Girl” — a movie she’d seen before and thought we would all find entertaining. The showtimes for “Gone Girl” meant we would have to hurry to the pizza place, eat an early supper, then get to the theatre in time for the 6:30 show. We called the Dycks and it was arranged.

We’d heard about the Organ Stop Pizza place from others who had been there. I was a little leery about it, but I figured we should at least check it out. It had been described as a big pizza restaurant built around a huge Wurlitzer organ, with hourly performances. When we got there the sign said it opened at 5:00pm. We were 5 minutes early! And there was a lineup! This MUST be a good place!

Once inside all our worst fears were realized. After ordering at the counter (first your pizza, then another line for drinks, then another line for ice cream) we entered a large hall with rows of picnic tables and sat down to wait for our order number to appear on the overhead display. And while we were waiting for our number to come up, the show began! Up from the stage arose a over-sized ‘Liberace-style’ organ. The organist took requests and then played various movie themes and 80’s love songs accompanied by lights and pipes and drums and keyboards around the hall danced along. Chuck-E-Cheese for seniors!

Too bad we didn’t have time for the ice cream dessert! We had a movie to catch. We drove back along Hwy 60 to the Harkins movie theatre. Had to hurry there too — the theatre was almost full. Luckily Sue found us four seats in a row on the far left, row 2. And for the next two-and-a-half hours we lay back in our chairs, necks craned back, and watched “the most elegant, exquisitely made trash”. Twists and turns and sex and violence all rolled into one big beautiful entertainment package.

Robert delivered us to our place after the movie. Not too much discussion on the ride home — we would need some time to process all we had heard and seen tonight. We said goodnight and soon headed off to bed. Tomorrow’s Saturday — we’ll have bacon and eggs.

I worked on the newsletter all morning. I had bought two TV antennas at Walmart a couple of days ago — one for $10 and one for $45. Since the $10 one worked so well (actually, a makeshift coax cable worked quite well!) I needed to return the other antenna. So after lunch I tied the box onto the carrier on my bike and Sue and I cycled into Apache Junction to return it. The shoulder on Hwy 60 has been repaved almost all the way to Apache Junction so the ride was quite easy. No wind. Got to Walmart and stood in line at the ‘Customer Service’ for a while. After the refund we cycled back home. Had a shower and a quick ‘sundowner’ drink. Then just after 5 we went to the ‘trailer park’ to the Dycks for dinner. The evenings are cooling off! Robert had correctly guessed that Sue really wanted barbecued salmon and it was delicious. After supper Robert found the Thursday Night Football game on TV. We got home just in time to see the Raiders win their first game in over a year, shocking the KC Chiefs. Wow.

Spent part of the morning cleaning up stuff in the garage. Worked on the newsletter project for Koop. Had to hurry lunch so I would be ready for our 1:00 tee time at Dinosaur Golf Course. Robert and Arlene arrived at our house at 12:30 — Sue and Arlene would while away the afternoon reading at the pool. Robert and I met Ed and Art and their wives at the golf course. We hit a few balls on the driving range (turned out that I wasted ALL my good shots there!) and then rode our carts up to the tee blocks at Hole #1. Rudy’s up first. Ka-BANG! The ball flies low into a cactus bush. Mulligan. Ka-BANG #2. The ball slices right over the nearby hill of desert bushes. Hmmm… off to a rip-roaring start!

As the afternoon progressed I became more and more convinced that the spectacular scenery on this course is in fact a HUGE distraction. I was losing at least one ball per hole. I was seeing A LOT of the course — WAY more than Robert, whose drives were ALWAYS straight and on the fairway (and hardly saw any of the interesting flora and fauna that I was discovering along the way). Well, as I so often say (lie?) after a game like that, ‘I may not have had a GOOD game, but I had FUN’.

We said adieu to Art and Wendy — they’re heading home tomorrow — and went back to our house. After drinks and a short skype with Alex and Max, we got the barbecue going. Robert checked on the pork and Sue apologized for the potatoes. Arlene rested her cast on an upside-down pail and I talked way too much. After bidding goodnight to the Dycks we barely made it into bed before sleep overcame us.

(Thanks to Ed Peters for the great photo!)

Sue and I went for a bike ride in the morning. After lunch Sue went to the pool to read and I ‘went shopping’ for TV antenna stuff. By happy hour I was deep into stringing up coax cable and scanning for digital TV signals. I had hoped to get the big TV in the bedroom hooked up, but I need a digital converter for that — so my little computer room TV is now sitting on the ledge in the bedroom closet. BUT IT WORKS! NBC, PBS, FOX, CBS, and a bunch of Spanish channels all come in crystal clear, better than cable! Happy days — no, happy nights, because now I can fall asleep to the sound of Jimmy Fallon’s crappy jokes.

After supper we were sitting and watching TV (and I was now trying to get the living room TV hooked up to an antenna as well!) when we had a text message from Arlene — happy days, no surgery, got a walking cast, having dinner at the mexican restaurant behind Bashas. Great news. The Dycks came by after dinner and we had drinks and conversation until it was time for the aforementioned Jimmy Fallon to joke me to sleep. Which he did.

After breakfast we picked up Robert at the motorhome and headed out to Silly Mountain for a hike. Another nice day here. We had to hurry our morning a bit because Robert and I were going to join Ed and Art at Mountain Brook for a 1:15 tee time. After our hike we headed out to Apache Junction to the Fresh Fruit Market to do a bit of grocery shopping. Then we skipped the trip to the grocery store and hurried back home to have lunch and get ready for our afternoon golf game.
Sue went to the grocery store and then to visit Arlene in the motorhome in the afternoon. The boys golfed. Started off not that great, but by the time we got to the last two holes we had shot some good holes. And by the time we got to the last two holes it was getting quite dark, and quite cool. Jackets came out. If we’d packed flashlights we might have hauled those out too.
Robert headed home and I joined Ed and Art for the walk back to Ed’s place for supper. Sue was already there — actually, she was there BEFORE Val and Wendy got back from their own afternoon of shopping! We had a fine supper with the Peters couples — and I probably overdid it with my tale of ‘almost sailing’. (Art and Wendy are planning to go sailing in the BVI this February. Robert and Arlene and the group are going in late December. Seems like we’re the only ones NOT going!) We got home just before 11:00 and after a bit of channel surfing we went to bed.

We THOUGHT we were going for a little hike with Robert and Arlene this afternoon — but that all changed when we got a text message this morning. Arlene has injured her ankle during their morning walk and she and Robert are sitting at the Urgent Care Clinic waiting to see a doctor!

So…

We watched our Sunday Morning shows — and skyped with Alex and Max for a while. At 11 o’clock the football games started. That’s what I did all day — watched the Vikings and the Giants both lose, and the Packers and the Patriots both win. OUCH! Well, at least the Arizona Cardinals continue to win and at least the Bengals beat the Saints, and the Chiefs beat the Seahawks. I guess I’ll cheer for the Cardinals.

Sue hung out at the pool all afternoon — finished reading the Miriam Toews ‘Puny Sorrows’ book.

Looks like Arlene will be laid up in the motorhome until at least Tuesday afternoon, when she will see a specialist and find out what’s next for her ankle. At least for now, hiking and golfing is out for her.

Bacon and eggs for breakfast. We met Robert and Arlene at Mountain Brook Golf Course for our 1:15 tee time. The day was perfect, weather-wise. And golf was good too — no one chasing us, no one to wait for ahead of us. Good thing too, because we were not always taking the shortest route to the pin. And we were VISITING — tough to continue a ‘story’ when you have to chase your ball all over the course.
After golf the Dycks came to our place for supper and we continued our visiting until we all were too tired to say anything more than ‘good night’. Tomorrow again.

We wanted to go hiking Silly Mountain at 10, but were delayed by an old guy who spotted our Manitoba license plate on our driveway and came over to visit with us for about half an hour. We parked on the Silly Mountain parking lot and hiked up. Just like old times. When we got to the highest point I tried to Skype Mom — and although it rang and she tried to answer, our connection wasn’t good enough to talk, much less show her ‘the view’. So I took a couple of photos and sent them to her later. We walked for just over an hour and then hurried home to have a quick lunch. We sat outside for lunch, and then I skyped Mom again — Linda was there visiting, and so I gave them a look at our backyard.

After a quick shower I had to hurry out of the house to get to the golf course at Mountain Brook for the 1:15 tee time with Ed and Art Peters. The two Peters couples had arrived in Gold Canyon late last night — Art and Wendy will be staying with Ed and Val for a week. Sue had already decided NOT to join us today since we’re golfing the same course tomorrow with Robert and Arlene and she didn’t think she needed the extra practice.

Ed and Art were already on the driving range. I got my own cart and after quick hellos we headed out to the tee at Hole number 1. The golfing was good. Not so hot today — in fact it’s cloudy for the first time since we arrived here a week ago. My game was pretty good — parred the first hole and finished the front nine with a 45. Not quite that good on the back nine — shot a 53 for a total of 98. Had fun. Finished before the sunset.

We invited the Peterses to come over for a drink — which they did. When I got home the phone was ringing (Brigitta), then Alex and Max FaceTimed, and then I see I’ve missed a phone call from Arlene who has just arrived in Gold Canyon today. Busy place! Oh well, we’ll catch up.

The visitors left at around 7. We barbecued cheeseburgers and watched TV. Went to bed tired.

I worked on the Prov project for Koop for a couple of hours in the morning. Sue did laundry. Then we went for a bike ride — ‘our loop’ with a detour through Mountain Brook. After lunch I restrung my guitar while Sue finished doing laundry and went to the pool. I wanted to try an antenna on our bedroom TV but I need a cable adaptor — a project for another day. After sundowners and a bit of putting in the backyard we had supper (shrimp) and I thought I’d watch Thursday Night Football. Oh no, now we don’t get Sportsnet on our Shaw! So I emailed the Bishops and headed out to the Hitching Post, a pizzeria and bar just across the road from Vista Point (our ‘community’). Yep, they had about 6 TVs showing the game. There were about 4 tables with customers, and a couple of guys sitting at the bar discussing the Buffalo Bills of days gone by. I sat down at the bar and ordered a Bud! I fit right in! No sound. Well, no TV sound. Everyone is looking up at the big flat screen TVs but way back in the far corner of the restaurant, far removed from any occupied tables, stands a sad-looking weary old ‘cowpoke’, holding a guitar and singing along with a ‘karaoke’ soundtrack. One table applauds sympathetically after each ‘song’. So I’m listening to the football fans next to me with one ear, focussing on the TV, and trying not to cringe too much every time old Hank there goes for one of those high lonesome wails! An email from the Bishops hints that they are going to try to get my channels back for me. I ‘facetime’ call Sue to find out if there’s any luck with our TV. Yes! By now the game looks like it will be an easy win for Miami, and I pay for my beer and walk back home. A million stars but it’s dark as pitch out here in this unlit development. Back home the game is on TV, although not in HD. Oh well, neither of these teams deserve HD. Sue makes an ice cream concoction with our Costco-sized barrel of Grand Marnier and the day ends on a happy note. No, EVERY day here ends on a happy note.

While I went for my first golf clinic at Mountain Brook today, Sue went to get her hair done. First Sue dropped me off at the golf course for 9 am. As we’re unloading the clubs, another Manitoba car pulls up behind us and the guy says something about ‘Steinbachers’. It’s Brian Reimer, Bob Kehler, and Vic Reimer — and they’re golf here this morning. No, I’m not golfing — I’m going to try the ‘Fairway woods and hybrids’ clinic. There are 5 of us who will get a 90 minute lesson from Curt Miles, the resident pro and co-manager of this golf club. And it’s helpful, although I’ll have to wait and see how it pays off in a real game.

After my lesson I waited for Sue to come pick me up. When she arrived she was in a hurry to get to her 11 o’clock appointment for a haircut at a salon near Bashas. So she dropped me off on King’s Ranch Road and took off for her appointment. And as soon as I’d walked about 10 steps I realized that I didn’t have a key to get into the house. Shoot! Well, I took my time walking, and ended up sitting in the shade in our backyard, waiting for Sue to come home. Which she did, an hour and a half later. Well, both of us had had a successful morning — Sue’s got her hair fixed, I got my golf swing fixed.

After lunch I did a couple of computer jobs for Koop. Sue went to the pool. Mid-afternoon our Amazon order arrived — books for Sue, coffee filters and new guitar strings for me. Just before sunset we went for a walk, to Walgreen’s and back. Sue had a lot to talk about — she hadn’t been able to read at all at the pool because of the entertaining conversations she’d overheard at the pool.

After supper we watched some TV. By 9pm I was drifting off pretty regularly. Sue too. She went to bed, I went to work on the computer — did that from 10 to midnight and then had a bit of trouble falling asleep.