Unpacking from a winter away is a required and time consuming chore. Not only do clothes have to be washed and cleaned, but pantry items have to be resolved, and refrigerator/freezer items relocated. And then there are the “toys” and their maintenance. 

We awoke Friday morning to winter weather advisories being issued for the entire state of Arkansas continuing through Saturday morning. An arctic front quickly moved into the Hot Springs Village area, is already moving through western Arkansas, replacing the comfortable temperatures enjoyed the last few days. Temperatures did hit the low to mid-50s before the boundary arrived. And then  the temperatures plummeted into the 30s with gusty north and northeast winds of 15 to 25 mph. Precipitation started as rain, but changed to light snow before going to all snow in the late afternoon and evening. Kay multitasked washing, drying, and folding clothes while moving and sorting food in the refrigerator/freezer. In addition, she made a grocery list of food for home.

Saturday was for visiting Karyn, Matt, Ridge, and Aker. Though it had only been a month since I had seen them, seems like they grew a couple of inches! We heard all about Ridge’s soccer exploits and saw Aker in glasses for the first time—cute kids. As we were about to leave, the car wouldn’t start—dead battery—and, we got a boost (jump) from Matt’s truck. Since the battery was apparently fried, we were off to Costco for a replacement—leaving the car running while we shopped—only to find they do not install batteries. Nevertheless, we bought a new one, and I installed it when we got home.

On Sunday, after church, the power washer was retrieved from the crawlspace/basement, and I used it to wash both our bicycles and her push golf cart. The dust from Arizona had worked its way into all the nooks and crannies of these toys. And, while the power washer was out, I washed the rugs from the motorhome and spread them out to dry in the sun. We’re getting there…

Taking a break from household chores, we both played pickleball at Balboa Baptist Church Monday morning (March 14). It was fun, but most of the players are bangers, and either do not know how, or choose not to do drop shots and dinks. Kay held her own quite well; she has improved so much over the winter. If not careful, she’ll advance to the next level for competitive play. After pickleball, I played golf with the HSV guys at DeSoto golf course. It wasn’t a pretty game, but it sure was fun.

It rained all night, and continued through Tuesday morning; golf was canceled. I used the time to work on photos, write blog posts, and do genealogy research. 

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were filled with completing unpacking winter items from the motorhome, re-familiarizing ourselves with the house, playing a bit of pickleball, and playing golf. Recall work was done on the Honda Pilot, the house’s HVAC unit was cleaned and inspected, and Kay attended a pickleball clinic at Diamante.

The goal Wednesday was to continue southeast through El Paso, then east to Monahan Sandhills State Park in Monahan, Texas, to overnight; I had stopped there in November 2020 and November 2021 on the way from Arkansas to Arizona. This would be a relative short and easy driving day. Upon arrival, the office advised that they had no vacancies—it was impossible to reach them via phone! Consequently, we made the camping loop so Kay could see the dunes.

We then continued eastward to Coffee Creek RV Resort in Santo, Texas, just west of Weatherford. This resulted in a 600-mile travel day! We arrived before dark even with a time zone change, and fortunately, not too worse for wear.

Thursday, the drive took us east towards Dallas, then northeast to home, a total of over 400+ miles. The trip was uneventful, though we did stop at Buc-ee’s fulfilling a bucket list item for Kay.

We arrived safe and sound at the Hot Springs Village RV park about 5 PM. Kay took the old Honda CR V home as it was packed to the brim. Meanwhile, I began the process of setting up, so that the arduous task of unpacking the RV could take place. Kay returned with my car, and after filling it with stuff, we drove home to find Kay’s car’s battery dead. We began the overnight process of charging it, unpacked most of the stuff in the car, took hot showers, and enjoyed sleeping in the house bed (the motorhome bed is identical). 

Up bright and early Tuesday morning, we departed Palm Creek and Casa Grande, Arizona, driving south then west with no particular overnight stopping place in mind. Our original plan had been to travel northeast, over the White Mountains, to near Petrified Forest National Park, the Interstate 40 to home; a 24-inch snowfall in the White Mountains a couple days before scuttled those plans. To make things a bit more challenging, just a day before our departure, the interstate past Tucson was closed due to high winds and dust. 

Fortunately, little to no wind and clear skies accompanied the day’s drive. We received a message from fellow travelers that RV sites were hard to come by on the way to Arkansas. After some discussion, we opted to stop in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and then visit White Sands National Park, recently renamed from White Sands National Monument.

Arriving fairly early in the afternoon, the motorhome was set up (on hooked up the electricity), a picnic lunch was made, and we were off to White Sands NP.  

The 50-minute drive took us through White Sands Missile Range where the US space program began.

White Sands National Park is completely surrounded by the White Sands Missile Range. White Sands was established as a national monument in 1933 and re-desginated as a national park in 2019. Today, its location between several military bases means the monument is sometimes closed due to missile tests. The park covers 145,762 acres in the Tularosa Basin, including the southern 41% of a 275 square mile field of white dunes composed of gypsum crystals.This dune field is very dynamic, with the most active dunes moving to the northeast at a rate of up to 30 feet per year, while the more stable areas of sand move very little. The pure gypsum (hydrous calcium sulfate) that forms these unusual dunes originates in the western portion of the monument from an ephemeral lake or playa with a very high mineral content. As the water evaporates (theoretically as much as 80″ per year!), the minerals are left behind to form gypsum deposits that eventually are wind-transported to form these white sand dunes. Many species of plants and animals have developed very specialized means of surviving in this area of cold winters, hot summers, with very little surface water and highly mineralized ground water. Major activities include hiking, sliding down the dunes, and just walking the dunes.

After watching the sunset, we returned to the RV for the evening.

Three and a half months, two trips back to Arkansas, lots of photography, pickleball galore, not enough golf, too much wind, great weather, meeting new neighbors, and wonderful happy hours and potlucks—that’s been our winter in Arizona. 

For me, it began the day after Thanksgiving, November 26, 2022, as Dan Olson and I traveled by motorhome to Santo, Texas, then to Monahan Sandhills State Park in Texas, then to Rodeo, New Mexico, and finally to Arizona where we stayed at Whitewater Draw, Fort Huachuca, and ending up at Palm Creek. 

For Kay, it began on December 29, 2021, as we flew from Little Rock to Phoenix, and then traveled by car to Palm Creek Resort in Casa Grande, Arizona.

We enjoyed sunshine, few bugs, cold nights, and comfortable days. We did not enjoy wind and dust storms, and the guy backing our of his carport without looking, caving in the passenger door of the old Honda we tow. Several thousand photographs were made; most were deleted. Lots of pickleball was played, as was golf a couple of times a week for each of us. We traveled to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, the Riparian Preserve at Gilbert Water Ranch, and Madera Canyon and Patagonia, Arizona, and we witnessed the best pickleball players in the world in Mesa. Except for aches and pains associated with our ages and physical activities, no illnesses were suffered. Some great shows were performed, and a little dancing occurred.

It was a great winter season, and we look forward to returning next season. Fortunately, we can do much the same thing at home with the same people!

The Palm Creek Pickleball Club Members’ Tournament began Wednesday morning bright and early.

Kay was scheduled for one of the first games. She and her partner found the competition too tough, but nevertheless medaled—GOLD for Mixed Doubles in their age group. 

Steve Seitz and his female partner played in the 3.5 Palm group in their age bracket. Though they played well, their mixed double team did not medal.

Thursday morning I played as a late entry in the Men’s Partners, 70+ age group, and lost the first two matches, won the first game in the consolation bracket, but lost in the second game by a score of 13-15. For the first time this year, I “couldn’t find” my backhand!. Kay and her partner played in the Women’s Doubles, 70+ age group, but lost both games in the first round. They won the first consolation game, but lost the second to a team in which one of the players consistently made grossly bad line calls (even the referee agreed, but couldn’t or wouldn’t overrule), costing Kay and her partner the otherwise close game. However, Kay did win a SILVER medal in her age group.

Although a few games were played Friday morning, the tournament was postponed because of dangerous wind and dust. 

Saturday was a non-starter as well, with all round robins canceled to afford open play on all courts.

As the tournament wrapped up on Sunday, others from Hot Springs Village played, all medaling. Mary Seitz was awarded a BRONZE medal in her age group in the Women’s Partners, 3.0.

Steve Seitz was awarded a BRONZE medal in the Men’s 3.5 Palm group, perhaps the toughest group playing in the tournament. He and his partner played several outstanding “complete” games with great serves, dinks, and slams. Laurie Furney won bronze in her 4.0 Mixed Doubles group, having to play several hard fought matches. Photos of her below are with her Women’s Doubles, 4.0.

And, of course, Kay won gold in mixed doubles and silver in women’s doubles in her age group. A pizza party was held subsequent to the completion of all games and awarding of medals.

Sunday eventing we attended “Garth LIVE” show by the Garth Brooks Tribute Band from Phoenix. We saw them two years ago, and though they performed well Sunday evening, it was not a good as the previous show. In my opinion, the fiddle player was the star of the show and received a standing ovation.

As we are wrapping up this winter in Arizona, I traveled to Madera Canyon and Patagonia, Arizona, respectively, to photograph birds for the last time this season.

The drive to Madera Canyon was about 1.5 half hours, but stretched into 2 hours after stopping to buy breakfast and retrieve a forgotten golf rangefinder. Madera Canyon was packed with people, and I got the last remaining parking place at Santa Rita Lodge, a great place for viewing birds. People were moving about, somewhat frightening the birds, but a few posed for photos. My goal was to capture hummingbirds in flight, or a least a good, sharp photo showing their colors. However, those photos will be saved for a future blog. I had planed to hike the long nature trail, but the crowds “drove” me away. Here are photos of other birds.

From Madera Canyon, I drove south and east to Patagonia, Arizona, home of Paton Center for Hummingbirds. Renowned for its backyard birds and scenic location, the Paton Center was acquired by the Tucson Audubon Society early in 2014. It was established as an international birding destination several decades earlier by Wally and Marion Paton, homeowners with a heart for birds and birders alike. When the Patons passed away in 2001 and 2009, the birding community began pulling together to save this gem for future generations. In the years and months since, many people have come forward with very generous donations to ensure a secure future for the site.

Tuesday was a quiet day, though each of us played pickleball. 

Weather this week was conducive to play every day, and we both took advantage of it, though Kay took off Wednesday morning to play golf. We did enjoy a great concert Wednesday evening, Blue Bayou Music of Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles. The show featured Linda Ronstadt’s big hits When Will I Be Loved, Blue Bayou, It’s So Easy, Different Drum, Silver Threads, and You’re No Good; her R&B and Motown hits Ooo Baby Baby, Hurts So Bad, Just One Look, and Heatwave; her Grammy Award winning songs with Nelson Riddle, I’ve Got a Crush on You, Mr. Sandman with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris, and Lo Siento Mi Vida in Spanish.

Thursday and Friday were pickleball days, too. I did spend time working on genealogy, especially the Fred and Zoula Dunn ancestry.

Saturday was more pickleball. There are 32 courts here at Palm Creek, and they are packed from 8 in the morning until 8 in the evening. It’s difficult to play unless you are registered in a round robin.

DJ and the Midnight Sun played a repeat performance of dance music Saturday evening. The five member band performs “Boomers” era hits including classic Rock and Roll, R&B, Motown, and select country.

It was our intent to go to church on Sunday, but something came up that prevented us from attending—my mom used to say the road to hell was paved with good intentions. It was just as well as I woke up early, and then went back to sleep, not getting up until late! was couples golf for the HSV folks out here in the desert. Neither Kay nor I won any money though we did have fun. Golf was followed by a great happy hour at the Baggetts.

February has been a tumultuous month for us, but thankfully ended with calm. We played pickleball, and enjoyed an “everything taco” happy hour and potluck with HSV friends on Monday, the last day of the month.

Sunday was a busy day, beginning with church at the invitation of Steve and Mary at the Casa Grande campus of the Sun Valley Church. It was a contemporary service, the music was live, and the sermon was streamed—very high tech. I really like the way the service was handled, and the message was quite appropriate. Back at Palm Creek, we had a late breakfast, and then walked to the golf course for none holes with the Hot Springs Village group. Poor Mary Seitz was stuck with me again this afternoon, and I played terrible. As you might expect, Kay was in the money again! Fortunately, she doesn’t rub it in too very much.

After golf, we were off to Ron and Bev Grahams for happy hour and root beer floats. Our group of Hot Springs Village folks are so fun to be with.

And then it was time for the weekly concert; this evening’s program was “O Canada” featuring music from Canadian artists. It was a very good concert, with great musicians and vocalists.

The wind on Monday prevented most outdoor activities for us; this has been an extraordinary windy winter! Thus, neither Kay nor I played pickleball. We used the day to catch up on internet chores, blog writing, and resting. As winter time in Arizona draws to a close for our friends and us, each family’s departure is reason for a get together. Monday afternoon we had a baked potato bar honoring Ron and Bev Graham. It was supposed to have been outside, but again the wind was a hindrance and we held it in one of the rooms in the administration complex. While I’m not a big fan of potato bars, this one was very, very good, and the company made it even better. I particularly liked the cake and ice cream served to celebrate Jolene’s birthday and the Baggett’s anniversary (they have been married on the plus side of 50 years.

A trip to the greater Phoenix area was in order for today. The number one reason for going was to attend the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) Foot Solutions Arizona Grand Slam—41 courts of outstanding pickleball, including 36 outdoor courts, 4 Medal Courts, and a Stadium Court. We focused our attention on the the Stadium Court where notable pros were playing mens’ and women’s doubles. Most of the top-ranked players were there, and they are awesome pickleball players. The photos below feature Ben Johns and his brother, Collins. Ben Johns is currently the highest ranked men’s player in the world in all three divisions: singles, men’s doubles, and mixed doubles. A student at the University of Maryland majoring in Materials Engineering, Johns grew up in Gaithersburg, Maryland playing tennis and table tennis. In March of 2016, he first picked up a pickleball paddle and instantly fell in love with the game. He is 22 years old and has a net worth of $1.2 milliion. By the way, he has the highest percentage of shots playing the kitchen line of any of the top ranked pro players; there’s a lot to be said for dinking!

After pickleball, we drove to the Riparian Preserve at Gilbert for some quick photos of birds. Given the late time of the day, there weren’t many flying about or eating, but a few did manage to be photographed.

And then, it was off to Trader Joe’s for dark roast coffee beans, but they were out; phooey! And then it was to Costco for gasoline prior to returning home.

On Wednesday, we were back to a normal, busy schedule, though my back ache and “jet lag” continued. Kay played golf with the Palm Creek 99ers in the morning, and I played pickleball in the afternoon. We played bridge in the evening—when time and schedules allow, we play several hands of bridge on Wednesday evenings with Steve and Mary Seitz in what has proved to be a great learning experience; thanks Steve and Mary for your patience and teaching. 

Thursday was a return to “Big Boys’ Golf” where a group of current and former HSV men play a big course within the general area. Today’s course was Quarry Pines in Marano, just north of Tucson. Quarry Pines Golf Club offers a mix of dramatic elevation changes and stunning mountain views with 18 holes. In 2000, following a decision to abandon the sand and gravel quarry adjacent to the original golf course, the Town of Marana and the quarry/golf course owner agreed on a plan that would reclaim the quarry. By relocating 10 golf holes into the old quarry and reconfiguring 8 of the existing holes one of Tucson’s most popular golf courses was transformed.

The goal in playing Quarry Pines is to reduce the number of lost golf balls! Though I came in last, I only lost two golf balls. As is becoming the norm, Steve Seitz won all the money.

Kay and I both played pickleball on Friday as Friday afternoon is HSV social pickleball day. It was great fun, with some hard fought matches. The previously postponed Balloon Glow occurred in the evening with seven hot air balloons inflating in an open place near the main buildings. This event is part of cancer awareness weekend. Most remain stationary, though one did offer tethered rides.

When their pilots would fire up the hot air, the balloons would offer a beautiful glow. One had to be there to see the dynamics of all the colors.