Slow Update is Donna's Fault

Okay...I got the hint from friends and family that it's time to get back to this blog and post an update. Folks are complaining about the lack of news. To set the record straight, it's not that I'm lazy....it's all Donna Kraft's fault cause since she has been back in the park, we're having too much fun and there's no time to sit down at the computer!

The monsoon season is officially over so the weather is back to absolute perfection in the 60s at night and high 80s or 90s during the day with clear beautiful sky and very low humidity. The windows are now open and the overworked air conditioners are at rest.

The biggest news in the park is, of course, all the construction of park models and village homes. I heard from a reliable source that they'll be bringing in 30-35 new models. The holes are already being dug and 2-3 homes are arriving daily. About 8 village homes have been sold and there are quite a few smaller two-section park models coming in as spec homes. Folks won't have to wait for construction of add-on rooms cause these models come in two parts and will fit on most RV sites. We're all anxious to see what they look like once the concrete gets poured and awnings go up. I'll be sure to post photos as soon as one is completed. Right now they're all in various stages of basic installation as you can see from photos posted below. Statistics as of today: There are 5 of the smaller two-part park models installed with three more holes dug. There are 16 village homes installed with 26 more holes dug for village homes!! Wow!

At first we thought these new homes were pretty small, but once you go inside and look around, they're really a nice size and very pleasant. Some have two bedrooms or at least one bedroom and a good sized office of spare room.

Here is half of a park model being set in place.

These three spec two-piece park models are new spec homes. Each has a slightly different layout inside. It will be fun to watch the concrete get poured and awnings put in place.

Here is another style with a built-on shed/laundry room.


Look at this!! A whole long street full of village homes! The area will really look nice when all construction is done and owners come down to add the finishing touches. It's really exciting!

Of course...there is a LOT of construction underway and the bulldozers are busy digging holes for more homes every day so some of the area looks like a war zone. Big piles of dirt and gravel abound. The place is buzzing with activity during a work day. Some of the neighbors get kind of crabby about all the noise...especially the early morning beeping of the bulldozer at work every time he backs up but that's the sound of progress and we know it's only temporary.


Here is another recent arrival waiting to be put together. There's lots of work to be done once they arrive as they have to fit together the house itself, the plumbing, wiring, sewer, etc etc.


Here is a model in progress.

Here's a couple village homes with concrete and patio.


I believe some of you saw the very first two village home models that were installed. The house on the left is the first home that was put in as a spec model. Whoops....someone really liked it, bought it, and has already moved in. They installed some sunscreen shading along side their driveway and it looks very nice. These corner lots are really nice with all the pretty landscaping the park installed along Cole Circle. The most activity seems to be centered along Shadow Rock Lane and Mountain Mirage Lane.

And then there are the regular one-piece park models being installed along the golf course on Coyote Trail. Each one is getting a huge stick-built add on room and some of these units look huge when completed. At the end of last season, I think the last house on Coyote trail was just past the north pool. Now, as you can see from these photos, there are homes installed all the way up to the north wall and around the corner right up to Oasis. It's amazing! I heard that the Add-On Guys are booked up through next November.


Although the golf course lots are "rather pricey", they certainly offer a lovely view. I walked out on the course this morning and found the view so peaceful and beautiful. It's very surprising that our landscape crews can keep the course looking so nice during Arizona's blast furnace summer temperatures.


The only other construction I've seen so far has something to do with the old volleyball court. They took out the sand and replaced it with concrete. I haven't heard what the plan is but I would guess perhaps converting it to a basketball court??

That's my post for today. Must hurry off now as we have a big Hand and Foot card game coming up this afternoon. Must get ready. Busy Busy Busy.

Awesome Storm

We had an AWESOME storm Monday night!! I am continually amazed at how fast storms can appear here in Arizona. It was quite cloudy and overcast last night but nothing serious. Then out of nowhere comes this gushing wind and DUST! This was by far the most ominous dust storm we’ve seen this past year. The wind switched dramatically from east to west and blew thick yellow clouds of dust into giant dust devils. WOW! It was phenomenal to watch. Just can’t capture it on film though. Then came the rain. What a blessing to this area as we sure haven’t had much this year. Too bad it all has to fall at once though. This morning the streets are dry with just an occasional puddle here and there. The park is really constructed well for water runoff. The little rivers rush down the streets straight to the golf course where it can be pumped away. With the nice big pumps the park utilizes, we’ll be back golfing in no time. See the attached pictures of golf course hole #7 contributed by Verna Shepherd. Hey Verna…thanks for the photos!

Palm Trees

I just came back from a nice morning bike ride and watched the landscape crew in action trimming the palm trees again. I've told the story before, but it sure is fascinating to watch so I'm attaching a few more photos so we can all appreciate how much work is involved in the process. Pictures are as follows: 1) Approaching the nice full tree, 2&3) Trim away with the saw, 4) The fronds just fall to the ground in a heap....but look closely at the barbs along each leaf stem. These branches are vicious! 5) Another crew follows along behind neatly stacking the fronds so they can be easily and efficiently picked up by the truck later. 6) The freshly trimmed street looks a little bare but they always seem to fill out nicely.

Park & Community News

It looks like it’s the annual tree trimming time here at Palm Creek. Our landscaping crews are hard at work trimming all the lower limbs and dead fronds from the palm trees…and there are a LOT of palm trees. They do a couple blocks each day so the project will last a while.

In the meantime, construction continues on park model and village homes throughout the park. We see the Perry Concrete trucks come and go most every day as they pour more and more patios and driveways. You’ll all be amazed at how many new homes we have when you return this fall. It would surely be exciting to be one of the new home owners and come down to see your lovely new home all ready and waiting for you to move in. I haven’t seen any new “model” village homes come in yet, but rumor has it that there are a couple on order.

The weather has been surprisingly mild the last few weeks. Temps are down at a tolerable level…mid to upper 90s or at most below 105. That’s not so bad. The humidity is up to 40-50% though so that makes a big difference. We’ll still keep the air conditioning going, thank you. Reports I hear from family and friends back east or even up Oregon way have been worse than here. When other parts of the country reach the triple digits they really suffer because of the humidity. It seems to be an even trade off, but I’ll still take this dry heat as the best choice.

Despite the national weather reports broadcasting news about the flooding in Tucson and surrounding area, we remain quite dry. We’ve only had 2-3 days of rain with no flooding to report. It was quite a shock, however, to drive up to Phoenix last week and actually see water in the Gila River. Sure don’t see that very often.

The new Lowe’s store is progressing rapidly. Looks like they’re putting up a nice decorative brick wall around the perimeter. The Golden Corral is still doing well. We ate there a couple times and the food has always been very good. The Extended Stay America hotel across from the park is now getting its outside coat. I read in the paper this morning that Casa Grande will have 2400 new residential homes this year. The community is definitely growing.


Here's a picture of the new hotel. Looks huge!

I also saw this blurb in the Phoenix paper this week regarding the Wild Horse Pass Casino. “The Gila River Indian Community is relocating its largest casino closer to Interstate 10 and plans to turn it into a "casino resort" with a 250-room hotel, 2,300-seat entertainment hall and a parking garage. Construction is scheduled to begin next spring. The new resort casino is scheduled to open in summer 2008 and will include a 100,000-square-foot gaming floor, 10-story hotel, entertainment venue, conference facilities, stores, nightclub, multiple restaurants, lounge, and pool, spa and health club.”

Storm and a Movie

WOW!!! We actually had a real thunderstorm last night with real rain and quite a bit of it. I planned on attaching a picture of a true rain puddle but slept in till 8:00 this morning and the puddles are gone. That’s surprising too because we had a lot of rain last night. There was a small river running down our street so I thought surely the golf course would be flooded. I guess it’s been so dry that everything soaked in immediately. That’s the first significant rainfall we’ve had since last September. I bet those saguaros out there in the desert are soaking it in for all they’re worth. There’s a nice breeze this morning and its not even 90 yet. The forecast says we’ll have a couple days below 100 this week. I’ll believe it when I see it.

Desert storms are quite magnificent. Don and I sat on the patio for a long time to watch the sky full of lightning. It was like a giant strobe light with lightning all around us. It was distant because we couldn't hear thunder at first. Then came the strong wind which brought the storm directly overhead along with the loud crashes of thunder. Awesome, but downright scary at times.

Don took me to dinner and a movie to celebrate my birthday. We didn’t want to travel all the way to Chandler so stayed in town and went to the mall cinema to see Pirates of the Caribbean. I wasn’t expecting much out of the show, but we surprisingly really enjoyed it. Thought it was very entertaining with incredible special effects and costumes. Captain Sparrow is a real hoot. Those of you who have been to the Casa Grande theater can understand when I say its even in worse shape than it was before. Oh my gosh. I felt like I needed a disinfectant shower by the time we left. The sad news is that there’s still no ground breaking or signs of a new theater coming our way. We still had a good time and just laughed when we had to peel our shoes off the sticky floor to depart.

Arizona Weather

Welcome to Arizona summer temps. It's 2:30 in the afternoon so we have two more hours to reach our high for the day. Our thermometer reads 114. To quote a well known saying: "But it's a dry heat." Our handy dandy weather machine reads 3% humidity today.



Our bobber club still gathers at the pool every night around 7:00 to discuss the day's events. One night last week, we commented about the temperature of the water coming from our faucets at home. The cold water faucet feels the same as the hot water. It never does get cool because the pipes are so warm even under ground. To take advantage of that, I experimented by shutting off our hot water heater. Thought I'd give it a try and only turn it on when I wanted to shower. Three days later, I realized that I hadn't given the hot water heater a thought in several days. It was turned off and we didn't even realize it. Dishwater, wash machine, and showers are very comfortable without a water heater! See? I knew this heat was good for something.

We had a dandy dust storm this week. As many as I've seen, I still am amazed to watch them. There can be strong winds, lightning, thunder, storm clouds, and.........dirt. No rain. Just dirt. The dust storms come and go with little warning. The one this week came late in the afternoon so the sunset was utterly spectacular. Look at the red sky!! It was awesome!

Another Indoor Activity

Here's another Palm Creek indoor activity very worthy of note. Frank and Joanie Cichon (Site 1705) spend lots of time in the woodworking shop creating beautiful masterpiece bowls. I am in awe of their talent and finished products. Their hobby starts by choosing just the right kind of wood for their project, then cutting it into the precise sized pieces, gluing it together into rings, and then grinding it down into their finished bowl. Take a close look at the workmanship involved in the process. Congratulations Joan and Frank!



Speaking of hobbies....I'm afraid BJ really has me hooked on her bead making stuff. I spent a couple hours at the kitchen table last night. Look at my pretty creations!! Thank you, BJ for being such a great instructor. I look forward to more lessons!


I keep talking about all the pretty cactus plants found here in the park. I hope Pauline and Len have had a chance to see theirs in bloom.

Hot Weather Activity

Whew! Is it hot! 113 again today and no relief in sight. The good news is that we still manage to have fun.

Today I attended a beading class conducted by BJ. BJ has been in the beading business for mega years so has a vast collection of beads and all the trinkets and dodads it takes to make jewelry and anything else associated with beads. She loves to teach classes and despite my hesitation at jewelry making, I'm afraid she has me hooked. I don't even wear much jewelry so didn't think I'd be interested, but she has me hooked and I find it very entertaining and just plain fun. The comraderie of getting together with a group and learning together adds to the enjoyment. We're all hoping that BJ will teach classes this coming season here at Palm Creek. My bet is that she'd have a waiting list of students eager to attend. Then we could all go downtown to Ruthie's store called the Gingerbread House to get our beads and supplies.


BJ & Sue Sally, Karen, me, Stella, and Pat

Look at our pretty new necklaces and earrings!

About 7:00 every night, you can find our "bobber club" at the pool for a refreshing respite from the heat. We're called the bobber club because we basically just bob around with our styrofoam noodles and converse about the latest news.

Here's Stella, Verna, Mike, Peggy, Jan, me....and that's Aldo under the surface. He always brings along his floating jug filled with his secret potion. Thank you, Bruce, for taking our photo.

Home Again

We're back home after visiting our kids in Ohio. What a wonderful time we had! Our new RV was perfect for this kind of trip and all went better than expected for the 16 days we were gone. (Details of the trip are posted in the Hepler Journal. See link on right edge of this blog page.)

Whew! Is it ever hot here. Temps are in the triple digits every day and the humidity is up to 30-40%. It wasn't so bad in the spring because it still cooled down at night but that cooling down stuff seems to be over. We're on full air conditioning now. We're officially in the monsoon season as the dewpoint was above 55 for three consecutive days. That is the official start of the season. I hear from the neighbors that we had two significant storms these past two weeks. It was mostly just dirt and dust but there was actually enough rain to get the street wet...about 1/4 inch. Welcome home to the dirt on our patio. Yuck. I just took a hose and washed everything down to make it livable again. The whole house needs a thorough washing, but it can surely wait till September when this storm season is over. Thank you, Ralph and Peggy, for keeping an eye on the homestead while we were away.

We were only gone two weeks but it’s amazing to see how much construction was done. There are new park models all over the place! There are six new village homes and I understand there are at least six more on the way. There are quite a few holes dug for upcoming homes so the area looks like giant gophers at work.

New village homes on Mountain Mirage Lane, Sites 1310, 1311, and 1312.

More home sites being prepared.

This is the view from the north end of the golf course. Thse sites were all empty in the spring. Almost all the golf course lots are filled.

This one looks like a new style of park model with the big bay window on the front.

We're Taking Off

The new weather station that Don installed on our roof says it was 115 here today. Whew. That's hot. The weather man says he predicts the monsoon season will start next week. Don and I both enjoy summers here as its really interesting....but....opportunity beckons so we're departing tomorrow on a little adventure.

If you go to the Hepler Journal website located to the right on this page, you'll see that we are the proud owners of a new 2007 Forest River Lexington 29ft Class C. We traded in our 2001 Itasca motor home. In other words, we downsized since we have no intentions of full timing any more. Our new coach is perfect for getting us from Point A to Point B and be very comfortable along the way. The unit even has THREE slides. It's really nice. Pictures posted on the Hepler Journal site.

Anyway....we're off to Ohio to visit our two sons and our brand new precious daughter-in-law. We're not looking forward to the 2000 mile journey to get there, but I want to see the kids and Don usually let's me have my way. He sure groans and moans a lot, but he gives in eventually. That's quite a trek to break in a new unit but we'll enjoy the adventure.

I will probably be off line for a few weeks so won't be able to update the blog on a regular basis but do check back occasionally.

There's so much going on here at Palm Creek this week!! New homes are springing up everywhere. They dug out two ground sets for village homes at 1310 and 1309. There are quite a few concrete slabs that are marked for removal which means more homes are on the way. There are four village home sections parked out there waiting for their final destination. Sites 1285 through 1289 are being dug up for village homes too. Lots of digging and moving gravel. I am sorry to miss the action but will update you as soon as we return.

Ken & Rosemary--This second picture is yours!

Also wanted to post this picture of Everette. He's a true fellow Wisconsin fan. Go Packers! He and his little buddy Gizmo stop by to see us while we sit on the patio for coffee in the mornings. Hey Everette....keep an eye on the place. Our neighbors, Ralph and Peggy Cooper, are caretakers for us while we'll be gone.

Well....adios Amigos. Hope you're all enjoying your summer. I'm off to see my kids!! Yahoo!!

A new village home has arrived...well, at least half of one. This is parked way over on the west side of the park near the wall and has no name on it so we're not sure whose it is yet.


Congratulations to Ken and Rosemary! They dug the hole today for Site 1310...is that your house half waiting for you?? I assured Ken I would be here to take lots of pictures for him as his new home gets moved in. The concrete slab at 1309 is marked as "remove". I imagine that means another home is on the way. How exciting! I heard a rumor yesterday that the park has sold 84 park models since September of 05. How about that! The joint is jumping!



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Don is such a Gadget Freak. He likes all kinds of electronic toys, computers, and gizmos. His latest acquisition is a complete professional weather monitoring system so we can track the Arizona summer temps and the monsoon winds and rain. This gizmo he mounted on the roof measures wind direction and velocity, temperatures, humidity, and rainfall (ha). It has been fun watching the temperature go up and down during the day....mostly up. As I type this at 5:40 p.m., the temp is 114 with 4 degree humidity. Like they say, "Its a DRY heat".


If you haven't checked my Journal lately, you may want to click on the link in the right panel of this page that takes you to the Hepler Journal. I posted some info there about our new rig.