Monday, December 17 - Change is Good (Gold Canyon, AZ)

 

Previously we had purchased tickets to attend Desert Botanical Garden. We were to go on Friday night.  Now in it's 35th year, Luminarias at the Garden is a holiday tradition. The Garden trails are lit by 8,000 luminaria and over 10 musical acts are located throughout the trails.

The 6 of us were suppose to take a bus trip with the park. Well they had to cancel because we had RAIN. So we were to go on Saturday. Well the rains came again on Saturday so it was cancelled.

They were going to reschedule for next weekend, but none of us will be here, so on Monday the guys went to the office to get our money back.

Since it was Saturday’s night we decided to all go out for pizza and we invited Pam and Henry to join us. We went to Chicago Pizza and it was really good and great company.

Sunday Bob and Janet picked us up at 10am and we drove to Globe, AZ to shop at Pickle Barrel Trading Post. They wanted to run their truck so we rode with them. It was an interesting place to walk around.

When we returned to the resort we walked the boys and drove over to pick up Ed and Marilyn and headed to Garcia’s for late lunch/early dinner. Bob and Janet drove themselves in their car.

We all had a good meal and lots of laughs.

Today I baked cookies and did laundry.

We are all going out for dinner for our Christmas Celebration with our RV family and then playing games. I will let you know how that turns out in another blog.

Our Christmas tree:

Friday, December 15 - The Big Truck (Gold Canyon, AZ)

 

Since we got a new to us Mobile Suites I knew we were going to have a problem towing with a single rear wheel truck.

Just towing from the dealer in Tucson to Gold Canyon was a bit hair raising.

I was on the lookout for a dually. The make did not make much of a difference as long as it was not a Ford 6.0 and I did not have to put out a large amount of cash.

I started checking craigslist and local used truck dealers and even went to a couple of dealers but the amount of money they wanted along with my trade in was ridiculous. So I kept on looking and came across a former full timer that was getting off the road and was looking to trade his HDT for a pick up of equal value.

I made some inquiries about his vehicle and vice versa and we came to an agreement for even exchange of vehicles.

Bob and I drove to San Fernando, CA to meet the guy 1/2 way. We left at 5:30am and returned and 10:30pm..long day!!

It is a 1998 Volvo VN 610 class 7 hdt with a Detroit Diesel series 60 motor with 400hp and a 10 speed Eaton tranny that auto shifts in 10th with only 73,1000 miles. Also has a 3 stage Jake Brake. I knew this truck would be able to tow anything I had.

It was a class 8 heavy duty truck singled out (one of the tandem axels removed) which made it a class 7 and titled as a motor home since it had a microwave, fridge, port a potty, and a bed in the sleeper area.

Since it is considered a motor home no special license to drive is needed. The previous owner had extended the bed and installed some large ramps and a winch so he could piggy back his Geo Tracker on an angle behind the cab. I had no intentions of doing that and the stuff he built for the Tracker would not work with our car anyway so with the help of Bob we removed the 4 ramps and some steel and sold them at a metal recyclers and I sold the winch on craigslist.

When we get back to Colorado I plan to remove the bed extension and build some storage cabinets and do what is needed so we can double tow.

Wednesday, December 14 - Feeling Better (Gold Canyon, AZ)

 

I have been sick with the flu for more then two weeks and finally feeling better.

Not a lot has happened because I couldn’t go out. 

During that time Jesse got a different truck and I have told him he needs to write a blog about the truck. So we need to encourage him to write! I have one picture to show:

One day Marilyn, Janet and I went to the mall for a girls day out. It was a lot of fun and really nice to get out.

We had a happy hour at Ed and Marilyn’s the other day to say good-bye to Trent and Teresa. They flew back to Canada to spend the Christmas holiday with their family. They are a super couple!

Next week B&J and E&M are flying back to Missouri to spend Christmas with their family.

Jesse and I are going to Vegas for the next few months.

I will write more soon.