ARIZONA  3,13 - 3,17.25      HAVE STICKS WILL TRAVEL

As well all know, plans can change day to day, hour to hour and weather forecast to weather forecast.  We are heading to the valley for a long weekend.  Our main purpose for this trip was to put on a Wannadinger Party for a tennis club in Gold Canyon.  For those of you who don't know what a Wannadinger is keep reading.

Our plan was to go down on Friday but that quickly changed with snow in the forecast.  Mother Nature had been teasing us all week with small amounts of snow.  If we didn't have to go through this one section of road on the way down we may have waited but this area always seems to get a major amount of snow and since we're towing the camper we weren't taking any chances.

Naturally, when you pack in a hurry you forget things.  This time was no different.

So we headed to the valley after dropping Abby off at her Auntie Sandy's.  Sandy is always in need of a puppy fix and Abby is always in need of Sandy's spoiling.

Even though there was snow on the ground from the day before, the roads were clear and dry.  Traffic was sparse nearly the whole way down.Things slowed down through the "snow area" because driving through there was like driving through a mini blizzard.  It came down so fast that visibility was greatly impaired.  Thankfully, its not a long stretch of road.  

We're staying at the Elk Lodge in Apache Junction and were lucky enough to get our favorite site.  We had a great view of Superstition Moiuntain.

Soon after arriving and setting up "camp" we headed to the grocery store to buy what we would need for the party on Sunday.  Not a lot, 20 cans of Grands biscuits, 4 boxes of Jello pudding mix, strawberries, blue berries, canned apple and cherry pie filling and paper towels.  I don't like when I don't "know" the store we're in.  Makes the time in the store at rush hour twice as long.

We had dinner and settled in for the night watching TV.  Saw a couple of episodes of Ozzie and Harriet.  Remember that one?

Saturday brought us a lazy morning and an afternoon of shopping.

Applebee's was our choice for dinner, and this was the only time I ever had a bad meal in this restaurant.  The steak was like shoe leather.  They were quite busy and shorthanded so our server didn't come back to our table until Walt was done his dinner so I refused the opportunity to have another steak made.

Another evening in watching TV was our Friday night.

Saturday brought us a busy day of shopping and errands to run.  This is the day we met Shane and Sharon the couple who parked next to us.  They are from Illinois and are here to visit their grown children who live in this area.  They have Bailey, a golden retriever.  We wished we had Abby with us.

Sunday was Wannadinger day.  Walt and I got busy prepping all the things we needed to take with us,  The fresh fruit needed to be readied and the puddings had to be made.

We arrived in Gold Canyon just afternoon and busy setting up the grills

Before anyone arrived.

At one o'clock golf carts started streaming in.

By 1:15 the majority of the guests had arrived.

All ready to get the grills started and we realized we didn't pack the stick lighter in our haste to get out of town before the snow came.  

Sticks were handed out and it was time for the "virgin" picture.  Every party we take a picture of those had never done this before.  I didn't know if I would get everyone in one shot or not.  This picture doesn't show all 78 guests.

 Soon after, biscuits were handed out.

Let the baking begin!

The tennis club provided hot dogs to fill the biscuits with and we brought the dessert fillings.

Biscuits baked and these two were ready to fill!

Oh, that first taste!

Since there so many participants no sooner had someone finished their biscuit baking another was ready to take their place around

the grills.

Some opted for dessert first while others waited.

We heard rave reviews from everyone.

This fellow was really enjoying his wannadinger.

A couple of hours later and everyone had eaten, thanked us for a fun time and it was time to tear it down.

We met some really nice people today.  A good time was by all.

Monday came all too soon and we had to head on back up the mountain .  We decided to leave the camper in place at the Elks Lodge because we want to head back down to hang out with our new friends Shane, Sharon and Bailey.

 DELAWARE  4.25.24

Our visit to the beach came to a close today.  It didn't take the three of us long to make sure Susan's beach house was back in order the way we found it.

Car packed, we headed north.  It was uneventful ride, which is always a good thing.  We made it back to Newark (NewARK) with plenty of day left to enjoy time out on the deck watching all the geese in the pond behind Sue's home.

Dinner was a delicious meal of steamed shrimp.  We certainly are getting our fill of seafood and we're loving bite of it!

Evening brought oldies on the radio and card playing.

A relaxing day if nothing else.

 DELAWARE  4.24.24

Today we were up and about so we decided to go enjoy this gorgeous day outside.

First stop was Roosevelt Inlet to see if anyone was catching fish.  No fisherman were there so of course no fish were being caught.

Next stop was the quaint little town of Lewes, Delaware.  Let's start of with the pronunciation of this town's name.  It's Loo-iss NOT Looz as some pronounce it.  While we're on pronunciations, Delaware is also blessed with a Houston.  We don't pronounce it like Texans do however.  Here in Delaware its pronounced House - tin.

So we get to Lewes.... Lewes was founded in 1631 by Dutch settlers. Since it was the first town in Delaware and Delaware is the first state to ratify the Constitution, the town refers to itself as "The first town in the first state." We Delawareans are just so darn clever!

Here, hundreds of boats spend the entire summer or come in just on weekends. There are lots of nice restaurants in this waterway area.

I could spend all day looking at the homes that have been here since the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries! Lots of gingerbread adorn these homes and many have the most beautiful gardens!

Before long we found ourselves in front of Saint Peter's Episcopal Church. This is the first church, in the first town, in the first state.

On the grounds of the church is a cemetery.  Of course it is the oldest cemetery in Delaware....you just know where I'm going with this don't you? I don't care, I'm gonna do it anyway. So we stood in the first cemetery at the first church in the first town of the first state. Whew! What a mouthful!

A lot of the headstones are nearly void of the engravings because of time and elements. These graves in the forefront of this picture date back between 1746 and 1775.

There is one grave that gets lots of attention. The inscription reads: "In memory of Elizabeth H. Cullen, born February 30th 1760 and departed this life September 30th, 1830, A.D. Aged 78 years and 7 months."

Also buried here is Dr. Henry Fisher, born in Ireland in 1700. He was the first physician in the territory of Delaware. Get ready......so we stood at the grave of the first physician in the first cemetery at the first church in the first town of the first state. OK, OK, I'm done.

There are lots of other Delaware notables such as governor's sea captains, justices, too numerous to mention and too boring to read about.

 This is the Cannonball House, formerly known as the home of David Rowland, this house was built in the 1790's.

It was struck by a cannon ball during a two-day British bombardment in April, 1813 as part of the War of 1812. Here is what remains.

You would think after all these years that someone would have worked that cannon ball loose! I'm glad they didn't but I'm surprised all the same.

These cannons were instrumental in keeping the British at bay during the time they tried to disrupt the commerce and shipping that was the mainstay of the area. Having been refused supplies by the Delaware authorities the British took up bombardment positions in the bay and shelled this town for 22 hours! Although short on ammunition the American batteries were able to effectively reply and cause damage to enemy vessels forcing the British to withdraw and take up more distant positions. You don't mess with Americans!

This is the Zwaanendael Museum.  It showcases over 11,000 years of Lewes culture beginning with the original Native American residents, through the period of European colonization, the American Revolutionary War, the birth of the United States as a nation, and the War of 1812. The exhibit utilizes a historic timeline to tell Lewes' story, supported by an array of artifacts, maps, sketches, lithographs, and photographs of period buildings.

I can remember coming to this museum when I was in the fourth grade as part of learning Delaware history.

Next stop was the Cape May - Lewes Ferry.  This is a mural on the wall.

A model of one of the ferry's.

There are five total and they make the trip between Lewes and Cape May, New Jersey. Its a 17 mile ride and it takes approximately 90 minutes. I made this trip a long time ago but I get seasick so it isn't a fun trip for me. Geez, seasick even on a ferry, on the bay no less, not even out on the big waves of the ocean!

Each ferry holds 100 cars and 1000 passeners,  Seeing an RV bicycles or even a tractor trailer are not uncommon sights on the ferry.

While hanging around the terminal we did see this little fella who got caught in the rocks.  He's going to have to wait for the ferry to come back or for high tide to get out of where he is.  This horseshoe crab sure was struggling and we all felt sorry for him but there was no way for any of us to get down where he was to help.

We wanted to see the ferry up close and personal but we had just missed it.  The next one wasn't until 4pm so we had to find something to do in the meantime.  What to do on a beautiful spring warm day???  Why play miniature golf of course!

A few more water shots.

Back to Rehoboth to play mini-golf.  Plain and simple I kicked butt!  We had since lost interest in the ferry and it was getting later in the day and don't ya know tummies started rumbling. Back in the car and headed to Dewey Beach for dinner at Woody's, home of the best crab cakes ever!

Tummies now full, shopping all done, we had seen all we wanted to so that left heading back home for the evening.  We played cards, watched TV and called it a night.

What a great day with our friend Susan!