CASA GRANDE
We had never stayed in Casa Grande before. It is located just a few minutes south of Phoenix. We really enjoyed it there and may just go back. Nice small town feel!
VISITORS!
We love having visitors and to our surprise Carol & Cliff showed up!
They are originally from Calgary and now live near Edmonton.
Cliff's Mom and my Mom were best friends since they were wee girls. They stayed that way all their lives. Needless to say Cliff and I go a long way back too!
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| Carol & Cliff |
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| At the Pima Air Museum and Bone-yard Cliff, Carol & Barb |
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| Lots of cool old Choppers and Aircraft! If you click on the pics they get bigger. |
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| arrrggghhh |
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| Reminds me of WW11 |
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| Thousands of mothballed aircraft in the desert. Some can be put back in service, others are for parts. |
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| They stay dry and preserved out here! |
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| These pictures are just a sample of what we saw. |
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| The famous SR71 Spy Plane! A great day looking at fast things that make big noise! |
We got to spend two days with Carol and Cliff and had a ball!
DRAG RACING - NHRA!
The track here in Phoenix is a 1/4 mile and was recently renamed from Firebird to "Wild Horse." Lots of remodeling has been done with the new owners and the NHRA hosted their National Points meet here with everything up to Top Fuel Dragsters and Funny Cars, The BIG Guys!
As you know I like things that are fast and loud. Race cars and fighter jets baby!
Barb and I spent the day there for the final qualifying and got to see lots happening. I just know Barb gets so excited when the cars are so loud they pound your chest when they go by. The concussions of 8000 horsepower engines, 3 second times and speeds of over 300 mph in a quarter mile! It's almost as good as NASCAR stock car racing!
Here's some pics from our fabulous day!
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| It all started with line ups! If you are an Allied Veteran you get a better price though! |
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| Top Fuel Dragsters! |
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| Burn Outs to heat the tires. |
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| Pit Action in the Pro Stock Pits. I was recently offered a job to work for one of these Teams. |
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| More Burn Outs! |
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| A Top Fuel Dragster at Speed! |
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| Top Fuel Funny Car Burn Outs |
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| Another one! These guys have to totally rebuild their engines between runs. |
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| These Guys Fly! |
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| Note the fuel burn coming out of the exhaust! |
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| A Drone with a Go-Pro Camera above us. I want one! |
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| The pounding on your chest and the noise! So cool! |
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| These guys are more than fasssst, They are mean! |
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| The day ended with Jet Cars! |
PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
We moved into the campground at the race track at Phoenix International Raceway on Monday last week. Two weekends in a row of car racing!
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| These Grandstands hold more than a few people! By NASCAR standards this is a small venue. |
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| The back side of the grandstands at PIR |
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| Sun Lane is our turn off for registration & new home for the next week. |
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| Coming in towards the check in and camping fun! |
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| A handful of RV's arrived earlier on Monday morning. |
It was quiet at first as usual, then by the end of the week a ton of RV's and Motorhomes had moved in!
This camping area is all "dry camping." There are no hookups for anything so we run on our own water system, propane and the generator for our electric needs. We still love doing this!
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| We found a nice quiet corner to set up. |
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| We love camping desert style! |
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| Another awesome Arizona sunset our first night! |
The camping area at PIR turns into the 3rd largest city in Arizona when NASCAR comes to town!
MORE FRIENDS!
On Tuesday our good friends from "So Cal" (Southern California) arrived with their new 5th wheel! Steve and Kathy were able to get away from the big city and come join us and we had a great time together. Can't wait until next year!
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| Steve & Kathy Steve is thinking what should I say? |
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| Barb & Kathy |
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| I think the girls are planning my next meal? |
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| Now they tell me... no we are not cooking for you! |
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| So Steve cooked for us... with the girls help of course! You can tell he was hungry, he cooks fast - the photo is a bit fuzzy! |
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| Our Hi-End Fire Pit - No Ground Fires Allowed in the Desert. Fred donated this garbage can lid last year. Note Steve's Tongs! A great idea for moving logs on the fire! |
We all had a great visit with time at the racetrack and showing them what happens with NASCAR events as they hadn't been to a race before.
The four of us also went into Mesa and had lunch with a bunch of our friends from back in Cochrane who were down here wintering too.
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| The Cochrane Connection Our great neighbours/friends from back home! Front: L to R: Barb, Sue, Bev, John (Duke) and John. Rear: L to R: Jim, Don and Janice! |
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| L to R Jim, Barb, Kathy & Steve. |
After lunch we hit a Casino for some fun and to check out their camping area.
Great friends, meals, car racing, evenings with campfires and great sunsets too. You can't beat that life!
Thursday night Fred and his son Ryan arrived from L.A.
Kathy & Steve had to leave the next morning (Friday) and we are already making plans to meet them at the track again for next year!
Fred is my longtime friend from way back in school days.
We became roommates after school when we were Bachelors. We seemed to have survived those years and then we helped each other along the way into marriage. :)
We've stayed close friends ever since!
In 1986 Fred and his Bride (Janet) moved down to the Los Angeles area from where we were living in the Vancouver area. There they raised their family. Fred and I try to get a visit in every year or two and for the last few years this has been a yearly event at the races in Phoenix.
It was through Fred that I met Steve who for a short time lived back in Calgary, when he was very young. Steve's Dad worked for Shell Oil and later they transferred back to the same area in southern California. Steve and I have lots in common and one such example is that we are both retired Police Officers. We have been friends with Steve & Kathy since 1986.
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| L to R Jim, Fred and Steve |
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| We took Fred's brand new Jeep and got a little mud on the tIres. Somehow it ended up with a decal on the window! |
By the way the trailer parked beside us ended up becoming the new owner of the Danica decal. It was still on their trailer when they left. :)
We spent the weekend going to all of the races, practices and other events at the track. We all had a great time. Barb made us some great meals too. We thank her!
After the races on Sunday Fred & Ryan had to drive 6 hours back home to Huntington Beach, California.
On Monday Barb and I packed up after a nice relaxing coffee time on the patio.
CAVE CREEK
Barb found us a camp spot in Cave Creek just a few minutes north of Scottsdale and Phoenix. After a couple of stops we made it to the Cave Creek County Park and got set up.
Click & Learn More About Saguaro Cactus Here.
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| Saguaro Cactus |
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| The desert offers much to see. |
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| We love desert camping. |
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| We recommend Cave Creek County Campground. Huge camping sites and very scenic! |
30+ hours later I have to say this is one nice location!
We love it here! It's a nice natural and rural area close to the big city. Lots of scenery, hiking, trails, mountains, cactus, plants and wildlife.
Ten minutes after setting up we had to leave and head over to Scottsdale where our Cochrane Neighbours were having dinner and a get together at Bev & Johns winter home. We had a great dinner and an evening of fun. Coming down here just keeps getting better every year!
We are here in Cave Creek for four nights until Friday morning.
At this point we haven't been able to find a place to camp around here other than the over-flow camping area. We like this area so much we may just stay there?
We are still hoping to get together with some of our RV friends from last year. Add to that we have another couple from back home who have just arrived in the area. Wow, we have a heavy social calendar down here!
BARB'S BREAD!
I married a really good cook. Her homemade bread is my favorite.
She is still making it and experimenting. I love it when she does that!
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| Barb's Home Made RV Bread! I'm a lucky man! |
A HERD OF MONSTERS!
Monday night Barb woke me up at 2:20am.
It seems she heard something outside our window. It was an attack!
A small herd of about 8 Javelinas (the "J" is promouced with a "H"). were out on our patio. Two of them were babies. We could hear them chewing on something and soon learned it was Barb's tasty patio plants. I was sure there would be nothing left but as it turned out they only nibbled around the edges.
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| The Javelinas left a few leaves on the ground after having a snack! |
(We won't get too close as they can be dangerous).
Click Here: Everything you wanted to know about Javelinas.
(Watch the video and see these wild 50 lb. creatures!).
ARIZONA SUNSETS
I know I have mentioned this before. Some of the best sunsets we have seen anywhere in the world have been here in Arizona. Tonight was no exception.
We hope that you have a good night too!
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| Sonoran Desert Sunsets! |
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| Good Night Y'all! |
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