March 16th - NORTH CAROLINA & OUR DESTINATION

We landed in North Carolina at 6am and we had an hour layover before we took off for our final destination.  Plenty of time to get breakfast, at the very least, a bagel.  NOT!  The airport was crazy busy and we had to wait for wheelchairs and attendants.  The lines at the bagel places were long and we knew we didn't have enough time. We got to our gate only to find that the ones who already boarded were deplaned and moving to another gate and a different plane.  So we made the move too.  Back on a plane sooner than we were ready for.  The seats are tiny, hard and give one no real leg room.  BUT.... flying but sure beats driving in getting from point A to point B. I fly, but I don't really enjoy it.  Does anyone?

Four hours.  Four long hours and we'll be there!  Finally!  As soon as we were in the air the pilot told us about major storms and that we had to fly around so our arrival time would be stretched to 15 to 20 minutes longer.  Oh damn!

Ok we landed and were expecting an easy time of getting through customs.  Our passports were new and the other paperwork needed was in order.  Or so we thought.  Walt was denied entry.  This was an OH SHIT moment!  WE HAD BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH!   I had our entry documents, but the lady couldn't find where it was paid for!  It was!  We weren't the only ones going through this, While we were there six other travelers were flagged for the same thing.   I think its a racket!  I paid the money AGAIN. RELUCTANTLY BUT I GAVE THEM ANOTHER $20.

So now we're in country and we hear, Snookie!  Walt! over here.  We turned and there was Susan from Delaware who invited us to spend the week with her here. She landed 15 minutes after us.

We cleared the airport and went outside to get a taxi.....along hundreds of other people.  It moved very fast. a taxi drove up, entire families and all their belongings disappeared within mere minutes.  We got into our taxi and Susan asked if our driver would drive past a particular landmark so I could get a picture. He said, "No problem"!  So here is where we are....  scroll down

..

,,

,,

,,

,,

,,

,,

,,

Yep, we're in Aruba for a week, staying with Susan who has a timeshare condo in the Marriott Ocean Resort.

I'll tell ya right, there is no way in hell I would drive here!  These people are freakin' crazy!  I noticed when we got in the taxi Susan asked right away what fare would be.  There is a list posted of what fares should be from one place to another and if it was too much you just refused that ride.  It keeps the taxi drivers honest and saves tourists from being ripped off.  Our driver was very friendly and spoke perfect English.  I asked if that was the native language here and he explained that one graduated from school each student could speak four languages fluently.  English, Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch.

Our driver also advised us that if we were going grocery shopping to go today or tomorrow because on Wednesday all stores would be closed because the King of the Netherlands was coming.  There will be a big celebration and parade.  Looks like we are here at the right time.

I just love the colors of the buildings.

Everything has been freshly painted in honor of the King's visit.

Arrival finally at the resort.  Luggage for three people for 7 days.

We got up to the condo and it is very nice!

I lost count on how many pool there are.  Five or six I'm guessing and the beach just beyond.  Every guest is given two beach towels everyday.  Bingo is played everyday and the bingo pots are quite large.

These resort guests are playing while standing in the pool.

I saw this passing by out in the water.

Since none of us had eaten since breakfast the day before, food was in order.  We went to a resort outdoor restaurant.  We all had burgers and fries.  I had a coke, Walt had a local beer he really wasn't crazy about and Susan ordered her favorite drink which was on special, so she ordered two.  

Our bill came to a little over a hundred dollars.   A bit pricey in my book but we are in Aruba at a resort.

Back in the condo we unpacked and made out a grocery list.  

I didn't expect to these scurry by while eating lunch.

Walt took much needed nap and Susan and I took a taxi to the grocery store. 

MAJOR MAYHEM!  The grocery store was nuts!  So incredibly busy and it was hard to shop because of the different languages the product names were written in.  The carts!  The carts were barely steerable as they had a mind of their own.  I held on to the front and tried to guide it and Susan pushed holding on to the handle.  For no apparent reason the cart would just slide sideways. And all the carts did this!  Add in hundreds of tourists and locals and it was just NUTS!  And EXPENSIVE!  everything is flown or arrives by boat.

Well, I'm just beat.  Walt and Susan have gone to bed, and I stayed up to get this caught up.  Susan has a busy week planned for us including a couple of tours.  You all should be familiar with Aruba by weeks end even if you've never been here, if I do this blog right.

More tomorrow.

 MARCH 15TH -ARIZONA & AIRSPACE

Another morning with no water and a lot more YouTube videos and phone calls to area businesses asking for ideas for solutions to this most annoying problem.

We give up.  Off to Kenny's we went for showers.  Why is it when I'm home, I can usually get two decent days after I wash my hair but when we're "camping" and we have no water for a proper shower that I wake up like this.......

After showers and a nice visit with Kenny it was time to get our day started with errands we have to run.

First order of business was new sneakers for Walt.  Famous Footwear was our first stop and he found exactly what he was looking for but there was only one shoe in the box and store personnel didn't have a clue where the other one was. And let's not discount the fact that he always buys two pairs and they only had one.  On to Penney's.  He found a pair he liked in his size and even a second pair.  /Now these Skechers were $95.00 which practically made this Queen of Cheap faint!  It almost killed me, but I talked him into getting the two pair.  I know!  I can't believe I did that either!!!  However, there is a method to my madness.  You see, I had a 35% off coupon that started on the 16th. I told him we would return one pair in Mesa and buy it back right away taking that 35% off and we would repeat that in Show Low store.  Always thinking, I am!  He also found 2 golf shirts and two pair of shorts.  I bought NOTHING for me!

Next stop was Walmart for a SDHC card for my camera.  I've taken thousands of pictures with the one I have and figured it has to wear out soon.  Walt found two more pair of shorts he liked and another golf shirt.  A few more things and we were out of there.  But did we ever see some sights while we were there!  My first "Walmartians".  I whipped that phone out so fast!

Do these people not own mirrors?

Back at the Elks Lodge we had lots of stuff to do.  You see, we aren't just here at the Lodge for any run of the mill reason, we're here to leave the travel trailer here while we take off in a jet plane!  This trip has been planned for a while and we told very few people of our plans.  Only two in the park and three outside.

We loaded up the truck with our luggage and headed to the parking lot where we'll leave the truck for a week.  Thanks to our GPS we found it with no problem.  Our ride to Sky Harbor airport arrived quickly and off we went!  Now Walt isn't crazy about driving at night anymore and especially in unfamiliar territory.  Did I mention we left Apache Junction around five and our flight doesn't leave until 11pm?  It's a good thing we like to people watch!  Got to the airport and checked our two large suitcases.  Found our wheelchairs we had reserved and headed to TSA.  (These are needed because Walt is waiting on his next roto-rootering of his legs and I'm having breathing issues.  It doesn't hurt that it affords us early boarding too) The line was long but moved quickly.  I should explain here that when I printed our boarding passes, and luggage tags the kiosk computer asked if I wanted to check a third bag with no extra charge.  Since we had two carry-ons within the size parameters I clicked on NO.  BIG MISTAKE!  Did you know that you now pay $40.00 per bag?  What a rip-off!  So, we put all of our electronics and metal things in the plastic boxes and laid our carry-ons on the conveyor belt.  Walt made it through x-ray with no problems, but I had to be patted down. Then we got the word that TSA wanted to talk with us.  You see, I knew we would be cooking this week, so I packed a small Mayo, Mustard and Ketchup, small bottles of our favorite salad dressings and I got busted because they were too big.  Not to mention all the sunscreen.  They would confiscate them or I could check the carry-on.  THIS  QUEEN OF CHEAP WAS NOT GOING TO THROW AWAY PERFECTLY GOOD STUFF!  So back downstairs we went.  I explained to the lady that I did in fact want to check that third bag now at no charge.  She explained to me that the opportunity for that had passed. Oh NO, I did not want to hear that.  She sent me to a supervisor to see if anything could be done.  That lady sent me to another lady who was higher up in the chain of command.  She sent me to another but did tell me that I should tell her that I did indeed say yes but the machine only spit out two luggage tags!  It worked!  I was a happy camper!  three pieces checked for the ridiculous price of two.  Back upstairs, through TSA AGAIN, patted down AGAIN and we were on our way to the waiting area.  Now all this took a considerable amount of time and we hadn't eaten yet.  Some of the nicer restaurants were closing for the night and the ones still open were crazy busy.  No dinner for us.  Our flight was called and we boarded.....hungry.  It was 11pm and we were headed to Charlotte, NC.  This was the first. leg of our trip.  We were glad when this day was over!

  

MARCH 14t, 2026  -  ARIZONA

We slept like rocks last night!  all the way to 9!  We both woke up with pretty bad cases of bedhead and couldn't wait to hit the shower. Then we remembered.  We have no water!  What to do, what do.  We played our Call a Friend card and asked if we could come and take showers.  Our dear friend Wayne  put his plans on hold for us and we rushed right over.  We have stayed in Wayne's guest room several times, so we were pretty familiar with his place.

All clean and hair tamed we sat for a visit and another Juniper Ridge friend stopped by.

Kathy

We had several errands to run so we ran from place to place buying things we need and feeding ourselves.  It was a warm one today.

This is my closet in our travel trailer.  Not huge by any means, but big enough to hold my hanging clothes I wanted with me while here in desert.

Now the question is if I have that closet and Walt has one just like it  the WHY do we have these with us?  scroll down.....

hmmmm,,,,,,,

I WILL NOW CLOSE THIS POST.  STAY TUNED!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

 MARCH 13, 2026 M - ARIZONA

We are back in our travel trailer for the first time this year.  It actually felt good to do all prep work to get in it and go!  We are heading to the valley on this first trip of 2026.  We must be NUTS! since the forecast is calling for 100-degree temps!  Of course its going to be 85 on the mountain while we're gone!  In MARCH!

We had an uneventful trip down and traffic was light.  We stopped for gas halfway down and paid $4.19 a gallon!  16 gallons and it was just a few pennies over $70.00.  We shudder to think what well pay in the valley.

We arrived in Apache Junction at the Elks Lodge where we stay and i had to jump through hoops to get signed in.  In the meantime Walt filled our freshwater tank.  We hurriedly got level and set up only to find out we had no water!  Not how we wanted to start out, that's for sure

We had dinner plans with our good friend, Kenny,  so we decided to worry about this later. We met him at Capriotti's, our favorite sub shop that is a must do every trip down here.  We had a great visit sitting at an outdoor table, enjoying our subs and cheesesteaks and the gentle breeze we had.  I had forgotten the camera so I don't have A picture of our dear friend.

Back home, I went through YouTube videos galore trying to figure out what's wrong with our water problem.  Can't get any through the faucets or even get any to drain from under the trailer.  

It was a long day and we were both glad our trailer bed is comfortable.

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.