Goodyear AZ (Low 54 Sunny and Windy High 79)
One thing we missed a lot not coming down here last winter was Spring Training for the Cactus League. We went to our first game yesterday. The park sure looked nice,
As you can see the sun was shining and it was hot in the sun, no sympathy we know from those in the Midwest right now.
Jo put on her big hat and she said it felt 5 degrees cooler. Although a nice crowd it wasn't wall to wall people so we moved down a few seats into the shade and it dropped 10-15 degrees with a nice gentle breeze. A beautiful day for baseball.
We went to see the Kansas City Royals play the Texas Rangers in Surprise.
We all commented how you could see a noticeable lack of energy from the Royals from the gitgo, which showed in the scoreboard, Rangers 11 Royals 7. It was still a great day and the game didn't count.
Here are more photos from the stadium.
Paul, this one was for you :-)
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Goodyear AZ (Low 51 Mostly Sunny High 80)
Bob started feeling poorly last weekend and it lasted for a few days. We were supposed to meet up with Jim & Sandie from Where are the Dixons Today? for lunch on Monday with other bloggers but we had to cancel. Sandie called it "The Crud" and said it took her about a week to get over it, never a better technical term as far as Bob is concerned :-)
This has put us a little behind in our blog reading and writing so we have some catch up to do.
Bob did comment that after last winter in Missouri recovering from surgery
and some down time here in Arizona this winter he would gladly choose Arizona every time :-)
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Goodyear AZ (Low 51 Warm with Decreasing Clouds High 82)
Time to time we like to give tips on what makes our full-timing life a little easier. We hit upon the neatest socks we ever have worn, bamboo socks.
We never have had socks that fit so well, and stay fitting great throughout the day and after a few cycles in the washer/dryer. Don't know how they do it but they feel like they also have arch support. Again we know we won't get any sympathy but with all the heat lately our feet also keep cool with these socks.
Give them a try and let us know what you think. They come in all styles even diabetic socks. We get them at vendor days in Happy Trails in Surprise AZ but they are also available online. Here is the vendor at Happy Trails, Best Bamboo Socks
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Goodyear AZ (Low 52 Sunshine mixing with Clouds High 84)
This is you
This is us
Yeah, we had to turn on our air conditioner yesterday, the first time this year. It was 87 degrees on our outdoor thermometer, just too warm to sit outside and wait for the big cool down of the desert.
You can begin the sympathy anytime :-)
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Goodyear AZ (Low 47 Very Warm with Sunshine High 83)
Bob has started laying out our travel once we leave the Phoenix area the end of March. We have to be in Denver in September for some medical tests and we have to figure in reservations for at least Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day. Probably would be a good idea to have reservations from Memorial Day to Labor Day since we have needed them in the past in Minnesota and Michigan. Here is what we have so far, 1 week at each location:
View Larger Map
Any comments will be appreciated on route, stops, need for reservations, etc. We are seeing a number of things we have wanted to see for a long time: London Bridge, Joshua Tree National Park, Sequoia National Park, Reagan Library, Hearst Castle, Yosemite, Monterey Aquarium, Crater Lake, Oregon Coast, etc. (and that is just the first part of the trip). We also know that there is a lot more to see, when Bob tried to fit all in California he wanted to see he mapped out the weeks and he was into August already so he had to scale back.
Leaves something for next trip!
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Goodyear AZ (Low 45 Sunny and Warm High 83)
We know that most of the time we think of the BWE (Baskerville Weather Effect) as being colder than normal but as defined the BWE is any extreme; hot or cold, more rain than normal, more snow than normal, etc. where we are located. Consider that the normal high is in the low 70s at this time of the year this qualifies as the BWE.
With all the cold weather across the country we feel that maybe we should feel a little guilty with all this good weather. But we are enjoying it so much we just don't feel guilty :-)
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Goodyear AZ (Low 44 Sunny High 82)
Where there is a will there usually is a way. Before we began full-timing we really liked the take and bake pizzas from Papa Murphy's, especially the thinner deLite crust. Unfortunately the deLite crust measures 14 inches (large) which is too big for our convection oven. The 4 times we used the propane oven in 4 years was for the deLite Papa Murphy pizza. We had their pizza more often but went with regular crust and medium sized since it fit in the convection.
When we got rid of the propane oven for the dishwasher we thought that our deLite pizza days was over for awhile. Then Jo hit upon the idea to cut the pizza in half and cook it that way. To be brutally honest Bob wasn't so sure and resisted the idea until we tried it recently. Just another case of Bob being wrong, you'd think he would be used to it by now :-)
Didn't think to take a before picture but here is the pizza cut in half, toppings rolled back so the crust in the middle could be rolled up and form a crust line. Bob's days working at Pizza Hut all those years ago were not a waste.
We then cooked it, a Greek Pepperoni pizza, in the convection and it was wonderful.
You'd think Jo would get tired of being right but she isn't :-)
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Goodyear AZ (Low 42 Sunny High 71)
Ever had one of those days when nothing seemed to go right? Well Z Tejas Southwestern Grill in Phoenix recently had one of those days, or was it Bob having one of those days?
We had wanted to eat there for awhile after getting a to go menu while visiting Texaz Grill for some great chicken fried steak. Bob wanted to try a smoked chicken chile relleno and Jo wanted to try a wild mushroom enchilada.
When our food arrived Bob tried to break off a corner and it felt like he was hitting the plate instead of the entree. Using a serrated knife he was barely able to cut through. No problem they will make another, besides Jo's wild mushroom enchilada was very good and their corn bread is also excellent :-)
The manager came by and was all apologetic and offered something to eat while Bob's new entree was cooking, probably to save some food for Jo. The smoked chicken chorizo soup sounded good and it was. The new entree arrived shortly thereafter and it was really good, but then, you just knew there was a but coming didn't ya? Bob saw what looked like the stem of the chile on his plate but it was not the stem it was a chicken bone. They smoke and hand pick the chicken there so both the waitress and the manager were very apologetic again. Luckily it was a big enough piece that it never got to the mouth or became a choking hazard.
We finished the rest of the meal and asked for to go containers and Bob's drink in a to go cup. Guess what happens next, they were all out of lids for the to go cups. We bring this up not to condemn Z Tejas but to compliment them. When you eat out as much as we do there is going to be problems, how the place handles the problem is what you are looking for. The waitress did not hesitate to let the manager know when the problems occurred. The manager was very attentive after that even offering a free cup of soup while Bob waited. When it came time to pay both of our meals were free. We made sure to tip the waitress for the full value of the meals and told her we would not hesitate to eat there again. The food was excellent and when problems surfaced they were handled correctly.
So if you are ever in Arizona, California, Utah or Texas give Z Tejas a chance, you won't be disappointed.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Goodyear AZ (Low 45 Cloudy with Sprinkles High 63)
We recently used our loyalty shirt and cup while we watched "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit".
This movie is based on the Jack Ryan character in the Tom Clancy novels but is not based on a particular book. This is kind of a reboot of the previous movies as it deals with how Jack gets into the CIA and his first field assignment after a few years sitting behind a desk. Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck have portrayed Jack Ryan in previous movies. This time it is Chris Pine and he did a great job. He is Captain Kirk after all so that is to be expected :-)
We both really liked this movie, of course we do have a soft spot with movies with a lot of action, which this one had. With Kevin Costner and Keira Knightly alongside Chris Pine the acting was top notch and the story was pretty good too. All in all a good time had by all.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
