Monsoon Season

We are definitely in the throes of monsoon season.  Our sky can turn from brilliant blue to big rolling clouds very rapidly.  We still haven't had any rain but we get plenty of rolling thunder and crashes of lightning.  It's quite exciting to watch.  Tonight it was just steady rumble rumble rumble.

 

Our daily sunrise and sunset is beautiful though. 

 

 

It's still hot.  107 again today.  All of us desert rats get up at the crack of dawn to enjoy the coolest part of the day.  That's 5:00 a.m.  That's when you see everyone out walking the dog, riding bike, or like us....just having coffee on the patio watching the hummingbirds at a nice cool 85 degrees.

 

Progress on Building B is coming along nicely.  They installed new counter tops on the cupboards.  Avis was anxious to see what they looked like so tried to clear a spot of dust.  She just can't help but pick up a dust rag wherever she goes.

 

Here's the old counter and sink.  You can only imagine how dirty and dusty everything is in here. 

 

Now they're sawing and mitering all the finishing wood pieces so we add saw dust to our desert dust.

 

Dora and crew have cleaned up the old storage room and moved in some tables so we can still have a place for afternoon cards.  You get a dozen or more women in this little room with all the hoopla of cards and mahjong and you can imagine how noisy it is in there.  I think the contractors get a charge out of us.

We saw new heavy equipment waiting to crank up today.  The big shovels are here now which means they'll be starting to dig the trenches for sewer lines.  Sewer lines come first.  When those are installed and buried, they dig for electrical and water.  LOTS of work ahead to get all the new houses ready by fall.

 

I see they've piled a lot of dirt along this new street.  I'm guessing there will be a line of oleanders across the top of the new berm.

 

Uh Oh...........we had to stop and wait for the traffic to clear before we could continue our tour.

 

You just have to love watching the quail run around with their little bobbers on top of their heads.

 

 I made Don stop a little longer at the stop sign here so I could get a good picture of the new lighting that crosses the golf course.  Very nice!!

 

This scene looks nice and serene.  The lone duck out on the pond just added to the beauty.

 

The July Happenings newsletter s published so go to the Palm Creek website or Facebook page.  It contains more photos of our summer fun.

 

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This one may bring a little tear to your eyes.
Only a golfer would understand this story of a GOLFER AT THE DENTIST.

A man and his wife walked into a dentist's office. The man said to the dentist, "Doc, I'm in one heck of a hurry.   I have two buddies sitting out in my car waiting for us to go play golf, so forget about the anesthetic, I don't have time for the gums to get numb. I just
want you to pull the tooth, and be done with it! We have a 10:00 AM tee time at the best golf course in town and it's 9:30 already... I don't have time to wait for the anesthetic to work!'

The dentist thought to himself, "My goodness, this is surely a very brave man asking to have his tooth pulled without using anything to kill the pain." So the dentist asks him, "Which tooth is it, sir?"

 

The man turned to his wife and said, "Open your mouth, Honey, and show him.

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I can never resist sharing some bird pictures.  A friend sent me these from the internet.

 

 

 

 

 

And then there's this father son photo.

 

 

 

 

First Strong Haboob of the Monsoon Season

We had a pretty strong dust storm last night (called a haboob) so I'm posting to let folks know that all is fine here.  Lots of wind and dust........not a drop of rain.  Wind lasted about a half hour.  Here's a couple photos from my kitchen window.  It was bright and sunny a few minutes prior to this photo.

 

Our cell phones kept ringing for a dust storm alert and radar showed a huge cloud of dust (the green color).

I copied this photo from Avis Gray's Facebook page.  Great Shot!  This gives you a better idea of how much dust is in the air.

Only sign of damage is a downed stop sign and the usual occasional loose skirting......but we had some pretty strong winds. 

Our weather station showed peak gusts of 32 miles per hour so obviously Phoenix was hit stronger than we were.  I took some photos from the 10:00 weather report.

 

 

 

Don and I drove all around the park this morning looking for any damage.  Only things we found were very minor.  Other than a few loose window screens, tipped over BBQs, and loose skirting in a few places, the only true damage was to 5th wheel, car, and cart covers.  They really need to be tied and secure.  Once the wind gets under them, its all over.

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Crews aren't working on a Sunday but the big trucks certainly got a lot done in one day!  We can now see where the new streets will enter onto Granite.

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Will probably write more tomorrow.........but right now I have some cleaning up to do.

 



BIG NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is EXCITING!!!!!!

OMG!!!  We received a fantastic news flash today!  It is posted on facebook plus it appeared in an email blast.  Here it is in case you haven't read it yet:

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Dear Residents,

 

It is with great pleasure that I announce many important new improvements coming to the Phase 3A area of the resort over the summer. We have the privilege of being awarded additional capital improvement funds in conjunction with the expansion of Phase 3A of the resort. This will allow us to finish electrical upgrades to the Phase 3A and create new sites for vacation rentals and home sales.

 

We are very pleased to integrate the following new facilities into ...the resort:

 -8 additional pickleball courts

 -A sports and activity pool complete with partial sun shades, hot tub and patio lounge area

 - A permanent restroom facility featuring showers 

 -A large softball warmup area

 -12 short-term RV sites located next to the pickleball courts

 -Additional permanent golf cart and vehicle parking

 

I look forward to keeping all of you current on our progress. Be sure to follow us on Facebook as we are regularly posting photos of current project progress. We will also include updates and information in our newsletters. I want to thank Sun Communities for their generous investment in our community and I look forward to updating you all on our wonderful new facilities.

 

-Lisa Harold, General Manager

 

 

 

 

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Here is a letter that went out to the Pickleball Club Members.:

Announcement from the Palm Creek Pickleball Club

  

I am happy to announce that this afternoon, Lisa Harold, General Manager of Sun Communities Palm Creek Golf and RV Resort, notified me that a 2.5 million dollar expansion project is scheduled to begin in the coming days. This expansion includes the construction of eight lighted Pickleball courts and restroom facilities to the north of our existing facility. Her letter and Phase 3A improvement plan outlines the planned additions and improvements, many of which greatly benefit the sports complex.   Here is a link that will take you to the formal announcement and a detailed map showing all of the items included in this expansion: Expansion Accouncement from Lisa Harold   I am sure that all of you will be very pleased by this announcement. Many long hours and months of planning have gone into the creation of these improvements. Lisa has been the champion of this project from the beginning. She values our Club and the benefit it has brought to the residents of Palm Creek. We owe her and her boss, Lori Rumer, our gratitude and a big "thank you". These new courts will help us assure that our Pickleball facility keeps pace with our Club's incredible growth.   ********************************************

 

 

Work is already beginning!  Here are some photos we took this morning.  Don and I found a shady spot to park our golf cart and then sat and watched for an hour or more.  I love watching the big Tonka trucks plow away the earth. 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We also enjoyed a nice potluck dinner this afternoon.  We certainly have some great cooks and chefs among us!

 

 

 

 

MaryAnn is in charge of the Palm Creek Facebook page (at least for the summer) so we're used to seeing her behind a camera these days.