TOUR AMERICA, 2020: CONGRESS, ARIZONA – THE GRAND CANYON STATE

Places We Have Called Home In 2020

Home Is Where We Park It – Escapees North Ranch, Congress, Arizona

April 23, 2020

Temperature 92 Degrees

Thinking Positive, We Re-booked Our Trip For The Third Time

Shopping At Safeway

We Went To The Garden

Ah, the sun’s coming up and the sky is a deep blue.  The morning holds all the signs of yet another beautiful day.  There is also a strong north wind that is blowing through Elvira keeping us comfortable and cool despite the day’s heat.

Breakfast was an all time favorite.  Barbara fixed up a big batch of cheese potatoes for both of us.  She also fried up some Spam which really hit the spot.  A glass of juice and a couple of cups of coffee and once again breakfast was a winner.

I am never one to give up easy.  For instance, I made yet a third travel plan for the summer and actually began booking campground reservations beginning in June.  Again, for the third time, Barbara booked

our reservation on The Grand Canyon Railway.  Let’s hope the third time is really the charm.

A little later in the morning the guys

in the receiving department informed me that some new goodies had arrived.

The flying insect screens were needed for the exhaust vents on the propane furnace.

I figured it was only a matter of time before a wasp would build a nest inside the vents if I didn’t cover them.  One possible future problem resolved.

Now about the fly swatters – it wasn’t more than a few hours and we somehow had a horsefly in our house.  Suffice to say I dispatched him with one quick swat.

Late afternoon we went foraging for meat at Safeway.  We put on our masks and I put on gloves since I would be pushing the cart and away we went.  Once inside the store I immediately noticed a few things:  hardly anyone was wearing a mask – seems to be the norm for this area; hardly anyone practiced social distancing; and, oh happy, happy, joy, joy the meat case was full.

However, perhaps the attitude of most people in this area regarding the virus can best be summed up in this exchange between Barbara and another customer.  The store has arrows directing people up and down aisles.  In essence you are only supposed to go up one and then down the next.  Barbara encountered a woman going the wrong way in one aisle and jokingly said to her you’re going the wrong way.  To which the woman replied Who cares I’ll do what I want.  Of course she wasn’t wearing a mask and pushed right past us.  Six feet, you have to be joking.  Sad, just so sad.  The way they act you get the unshakable impression that they believe the virus is fake news.

Once we were back home we decided to go for a short walk.  This flag has been flying for weeks over the campground and it always brings a smile to my face.

Continuing on we went for a walk in the garden.  The bush in the back is a bottle bush.  In front of it is an Easter cactus.

A strawberry hedgehog.

A regular hedgehog.

Not sure what these are called.

A young cactus just beginning to bud.

One more.

As I said we always believe that a bunny is a sign of good luck for us.  Well, if one bunny is a sign of good luck

then imagine how lucky we felt when we discovered this field of them.  Could this mean we’ll really be leaving here on June 9th?  We can only hope.

Yet another day on The Road of Retirement has come to a close.  As you may have noticed by the temperature in the heading things are really heating up around here.  They say that this is a bit abnormal this early in the year.  They also say that the temperatures within a week or so will drop back into the 80’s.  OK, we’re not suffering so we’re not complaining.  Overall, we had another good day in so many ways.  Our wheels may not be rolling right now but we’re making the most of our self imposed isolation.  That’s all we can ask for right now.

On the lighter side.

Thanks for joining us again today.  We really do appreciate your company and your comments.  Keep them coming.  Catch you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Elvira and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before.

See you on down the road!