Winter DAZE of 2016

We celebrated Christmas 2015 at our Arizona City home.  Upon returning here in late November, Joanne had an unfortunate accident and was eventually diagnosed with a fractured pelvis.  Thus, there was exceptionally limited mobility for about 6 weeks.  

During the Christmas holidays we were delighted to have a visit from daughter Mary and her children.

This being baby Dalin's first Christmas was a special treat of course.  Grandma enjoyed every cute little smile!

Mid January we went on our annual pilgrimage to Quartzite, AZ.  We heard that in January 2016 about a million others were there too!  RV'ers spread out over the desert so it certainly doesn't seem all that crowded.  We joined other friends from our Prospector's and Metal Detector (P&MD) of the Escapees RV Club.  This is always a delightful week where we do some prospecting but primarily just have a great time with the MOST valuable gold...each other's friendship!

Here Ken joins friends Dave and Tillie as they use their earthquake, a machine for classifying the soil prior to putting it into their dry washer.  The "finds" then are panned out to see if there is any of the glittery gold!  

After returning from Quartzsite, Dave and Tillie also came east to our home in Arizona City where we spent several days enjoying their company (and Tillie's excellent cooking skills)!

These next photos show  what has occurred at our AZ home in 2016.  This is the back yard as of 10 a.m. on Feb. 2, 2016.  A BIG change will arrive SOON!

OH...here it comes driving down the street!

Watching the young man unload and manipulate the mechanism under the building was fascinating.

Within a short time, here it comes in our back gate!

Within the hour, Ken now has a NEW...hummm...what to call it?  Playhouse, Cave, Dog House...still looking for the right terminology...HA HA HA!  

Throughout the last month he put down epoxy (with a speckled fleck) on the floor, prepped the walls to organize all his tools, build a work bench, and added many features that make this a great addition to our property.

As one can imagine, our house's garage looks amazingly different NOW that all his tools are removed and re-located at this new shed.   We can get in and out of our vehicles much easier now that all Ken's "things" have a new home.  Obviously this set-up makes it much handier for him to do his projects.  

Another activity that has occupied us this winter has been Arizona City Daze, a celebration that is sponsored by the local Chamber of Commerce.  We are "citizen members" and volunteer for this event.  Here are some photos of the 2016  parade on Saturday, Feb. 27.  A fly-over by local vintage air craft signal the starting of the festivity.

There were about 60 group and or individual sponsored entries in the 2016 parade.  This cop car from the 1930's won the Classic Vehicle award during the parade.  

The Arizona City Golfers decorated their golf carts using the Western theme and drove them down the parade route.  Here is just one example of the creativity these golfing folks shared.

The Shriners from Tucson joined us with their miniature cars to the delight of children (of all ages)!

"Make Kids Smile", a non-profit run by our neighbors to the east, won the Comic Award for the parade.  Many of their characters added to the frivolity of the day!   This year we had super weather and an excellent attendance at all the fun events of Arizona City Daze...golf tournament,   parade, car  show, vendor booths, entertainment, and carnival.