Settling (Sort of) in Arizona

We’re settling, sort of, in Arizona. San Tan Valley to be precise. In March of 2016 my oldest daughter and son-in-law moved from California to Tucson. After much family discussion we decided it was best to move closer to them so Fiona could be nearer her best friend – her big sister! Especially during her teen years. So in June 2016 we left Wisconsin to move to Arizona.

It wasn’t easy. Fiona even had to think twice about leaving the beautiful snowy winters in Wisconsin to live in hot, dry Arizona. We all loved the snow, winter, the seasons in Wisconsin! Arizona though did have her big sister, Joel’s good friend Terry, my aunt, uncle, and cousin. The drier weather would probably be good for my rheumatoid arthritis. So we made plans and moved.

After staying with our good friends, Terry & Virgie, for a couple of months, we found the place we’re now living in. We do like the house and where it’s located – far away from the bustle of the big city of Phoenix. Close enough to take Fiona to visit her big sister monthly instead of only once a year. We’ve made some really, really good friends.

We did go back to Wisconsin last August to get some relief from the heat – and visited all our friends there that we missed as well as Joel’s mom and my son James. We plan to do that again this year.

Arizona does have its own beauty – like these beautiful days when the sky is so blue and the clouds puffy white. For now, we’re settling here. So far, so good.

Our New Home on the Lake (Rice Lake)

A quick gallery of our new home. More photos when we finish moving in. And then again in spring. And then again in fall.

Heading Out West in 2014

It’s been nine months since we’ve traveled out West. Last May we went out to Phoenix, San Diego, and the Sacramento area. We were able to visit lots of friends and family. We’ve been feeling the itch to travel some again and see our very good friends in Phoenix and my married daughter in Sacramento.

Alex Zabala's websiteSo we’re heading out West in March. And we’re making it a business trip to meet with other authors, a couple of clients, and possibly do a couple of presentations for writers.

We’ll be visiting Alex Zabala and his wife in Phoenix. Alex is author of Treasure of the Mayan King and The Golden Scepter. Last May when we were there he was celebrating 5 hundred copies sold of Treasure of the Mayan King. Last month, January 2014, he celebrated 5 thousand copies sold!

Then we’ll visit with our very good friends, Terry & Virgie. Terry is a musician and Joel always loves playing with him and his band.

While in Phoenix, at some point, we’ll also have an opportunity to meet Larry Brooks, author of Story Engineering, a book Joel recommends to authors. Yet another contact in Albuquerque may be able to set up something for Joel to present to a book club.

On our way to see Rachelle in the Sacramento area, we’ll have a night in Santa Barbara, California to meet up with another author, Lynelle Paulick.

And if we can convince Tom Bentley – editor extraordinaire – not to do an overseas house sitting gig, maybe we’ll stop by and see him while we’re in California.

It should be a lot of fun! Join us on another adventure!

Two Birds – One Stone

Yesterday we had a two-for-one experience. Since our good friend Rod lives about an hour from the friends we are staying with in Phoenix and Joel’s Uncle Bill and his wife live about an hour in the opposite direction, they all met us partway at an Applebee’s to visit. So we were able to visit with Rod who we hadn’t seen in 10 years and Sue was able to meet Joel’s Uncle Bill who he hadn’t seen in over 40 years!

Bill and Joel

It was great to visit with everyone at once and even find out that Rod and Bill had mutual friends. We really hope we can come back sooner than later and visit with them all again.

Rod and Joel

Today is our last day in Phoenix and we’ll be seeing Sue’s Uncle Phil and family and then staying the last night with author Alex Zabala and his wife again before heading Monday morning for San Diego.

Eunice, Bill and Fiona

Air Conditioning Goes Out in the Van in Arizona!

air conditionerSo we’re here visiting our friends Terry & Virgie in Phoenix, Arizona and it’s been 100 degrees out! And the air conditioning in our van goes out yesterday. We don’t do heat so there’s no way we’re finishing this trip without air conditioning.

Fortunately, Terry & Virgie know a good local mechanic who can fix the whole thing for $600.  And before we need to leave for San Diego on Sunday.

That, coincidentally, is exactly TWO of our “Ready, Set, Go!” Instant Blogging packages.

So if you know someone who needs a blog, you should tell them about this, shouldn’t you?

© Shipowner119 | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images

Music in Mesa, Arizona with Terry & Virgie

Last night we were once again at Terry & Virgie’s where music was being played at their home by them and their young friends. Fiona made friends with an 8-year old boy named Ezra. My dad’s father’s name was Ezra.

We’re looking forward to this next week with Terry & Virgie and hopefully again on Thursday evening everyone will get together again to play some music.

music in mesa at the wilson's

Old Friends and New Friends

Today we will be visiting an old friend and I will be making a new friend. Joel and I have known Dan for I don’t even know how many years. However the last time I saw him was before he married Annette. So today when we go to stay with them for the weekend, I’ll be making a new friend!

On Saturday we will be making pizza – just like we do every Saturday night. This time when we make our crust we’ll also be making a gluten-free crust for someone who needs that.

After our weekend with our old and new friend we’ll be coming back to stay with Terry & Virgie another week! WhooHoo!!!

Petrified Forest National Park

The Petrified Forest National Park is a national park in Navajo and Apache counties in northeastern Arizona. We stopped for a visit at the Center and Fiona was able to do some exploring both outside and inside. She wasn’t too keen on walking on that “terrain”. Silly!

Petrified Forest National Park

We have now arrived safely in Phoenix and are catching up on some work and Fiona on some school work. When we did arrive the first thing we all did was take a swim in the pool. We were exhausted by 9 pm though so went to bed early.

Beautiful Kansas Sky

We left Kansas City, Missouri this morning early – before 7 a.m. Drove through Kansas – not much to see. However, I did get this beautiful photo of the sky and clouds.

the beautiful Kansas sky

We drove through the Panhandle of Oklahoma and Texas – through Guymon and Dalhart. Funny that we just watched a Ken Burns documentary about the Dust Bowl of the 1930s with Joel’s mom just the day before we left and it mentioned these areas.

Now we’re settled into our hotel in Tucumcari, New Mexico. After filling our tummies, we’re catching up on email and stuff. Tomorrow we drive to Phoenix, Arizona and see our great friends – Terry & Virgie!

Iowa Has Great Rest Stops

We left this morning at 7:30 a.m. CST from Rice Lake, Wisconsin. When we hit Iowa, we stopped at the first rest stop. It’s great! Two stories, looks like a barn, free wi-fi at the coffee shop, and a nearby gas station with good gas prices.

Iowa rest stop

We took a short break at the rest stop to use the wi-fi and catch up on some work. Fiona posted “Adventures On The Road” at her blog.

It was a beautiful, sunny day and we saw lots of green grass and white clouds. We also saw some bison and baby cows. Now we’re settled in to our hotel in Kansas City and looking forward to driving to Tucumcari, New Mexico tomorrow.