The Season Approaches

The official “Welcome Home” sign is up and Yogi (Roger Balzan) and his team are at bat at the front gate to greet you. 

The front office is decorated and the whole entrance area looks so attractive.  Lots of smiles and friendly greetings await our arriving guests.

The Activities Office is buzzing with preparations for the upcoming plethora of events and fun times.  Mary Williams was at the ticket desk when I entered there this morning so I’m posting her picture too.  Say Hi to Mary when you see her around the park and let her know she was seen “on the blog”. The front nine of the golf course is coming along beautifully.  Such a pretty green color and the smell of new grass.  The back nine is now under construction so the dirt and dust still permeates the air in that area.  Certainly is hard to keep a clean car but that’s the hazard of living in the desert. 

By now you’re probably either on the road or at least packing your suitcases.  Hope to see you soon.  Please be sure to stop by and say Howdy.

P.S.  I experimented with adding a “page” to this blog so I could keep some info from getting buried in the archives.  Notice across the top of the page that there are now tabs so you can see other info that may be added.  Click on the “recommended vendors” page for the newest entry.

Busy Days

The storms are past, the sky is blue, temps are below triple digits, folks are returning in herds, the park is buzzing with activity.  LIFE IS GOOD!!!
As stated in my last entry, the severe storms all missed us and hit up north near the Flagstaff area.  We had a few downed trees around town and a power outage out by Abbott Labs west on Cottonwood, but nothing around here was damaged.  We were just very thankful for the wonderful rain!  The front nine is so pretty with the fresh tender grass.  We joke that we can hear it squeak as it rapidly pops up out of the earth.
  

The rain was awesome and badly needed.  Refreshing!!

The park has done sooooooo much work this summer!  Now the carpets in all the buildings are being cleaned, windows washed, lights repaired, and all the little things necessary to make the place spic and span for your return.  Even new carpet in the Activities Room.

Ann Lykens (Activities Director) is really busy lining up our entertainment.

Marilyn Goeken is back!  She’s the lady that makes sure we all get fed so well during season.  Thank you, Marilyn! AND….water volleyball is already underway.  Hurry back and join in the fun.


Say “Hi” to Jerry and Marian.  Caught them in the hot tub this morning.

I shall close with one final safety warning:

4 Hurricanes in Arizona!

All the national news you may be seeing on television regarding the four hurricanes striking Arizona do not pertain to us in Casa Grande.  The storms hit up near Flagstaff and did some tremendous damage but we’re just fine down here.  We had two days of rain with some nice thunderstorms but no damage of any kind.  The rain was a welcomed relief and helped turn the front nine into a beautiful velvety green carpet.  I’ll post more tomorrow but we’ve had some phone calls from folks asking if their houses were safe so thought I’d put up a quick paragraph tonight.

Tidbit Items

What a glorious day today!!  We had a nice surprise haboob (dust storm) and thunderstorm last night……..and some RAIN!!!!  We watched the clouds of dust pass over and then came the rain with a good helping of lightning and thunder.  It was very welcomed and cooled down our temps considerably.  Today is the first day since the merry month of May that the weatherman predicts no triple digits for the whole upcoming week!  October is always a welcomed relief to us summer residents.
The park had a very nice dinner Thursday to celebrate the end of the summer season and there were 106 people present.  No pictures for you though because I wasn’t present.  I had to make an emergency trip to Mexico due to a broken tooth.  Dang!  That’s one disadvantage of having a dentist in Mexico because it is a long 3 hour drive for an unexpected dental emergency.  It was no problem to get in, however, as the winter crowds aren’t there yet so I was able to get in right away.  I need a bunch of crowns anyway and have just been putting it off so rather than waste a trip, I had them get started.  I got two temporary crowns and one filling all done that same day.  Now I go back Wednesday for the next stage.  Do you have a good dentist south of the border??  If not, I can highly recommend Dr. Ramos.  Don and I have been going to his office for the last 4-5 years and have had lots of work done there.  He now has a brand new building and the place is spotlessly clean.  Here is his business card with contact information and directions to find the office on the back side.  Very easy to find.
 
Let’s see…………..what else is new??? 
More construction and new homes coming in.  Found two more holes ready and waiting by site 1322.  That whole street will be full of new village homes by the time you return.
Landscaping chores never end.  Fernando spotted a dead Queen Palm up at the north pool so had someone remove it this morning.  My camera caught the live action.



    Fernando




Now that the full sprinkler system has been installed up at the front entrance, they started planting some bushes.  I’m told it is a work in progress so there is more to come in this area.

The October “Happenings” newsletter is packed full of interesting information.  If you don’t have a copy, be sure to log on to the park website to read it. 

www.palmcreekgolf.com

Click on the link above (be sure to add it to your favorites).  Click on “Monthly Newsletter” at the bottom of the Home Page and select the publication you would like to view.  The publications are in .pdf format for easy readability and printing of important pages or forms.    The various activity and event calendars are now on the website too so check back frequently for the latest updates. We will be talking about the park website at our upcoming computer club meetings as well.
This morning while out enjoying the weather, checking on housewatch places, and searching for newsy items for this blog, we came across Kay Downing and her dog Rosie.  Kay is back again this year to work at the front reception desk and help you get signed in.  Be sure to say Howdy to her and let her know you saw her “on the blog”. 

Bill and Montez Beard (full-time RVers in site 947) have returned again for the season and had a fun birding story that was published in the August issue of Family Motor Coaching magazine. 
Speaking of “birds”, I learned something new about all the doves here in the park.  We now have a third kind of dove called a Eurasian Dove.  I’ve seen several of them recently and they’re quite noticeable because of their white tail feathers so I researched them to learn more.  Like the White-Winged dove, they have a black ring on their neck.  The giveaway is their white tail feathers.  Keep your eyes peeled for them and you can impress your neighbors with your birding expertise at your next happy hour.



      
      That’s my news for today, but I’ll keep my eyes peeled for more happenings to report next time.  Have a great day and thanks for visiting “THE BLOG”.

Road Work and a BUG

There is always something new to watch around the park these days.  Today there is a crew doing road work and patching.  First a truck slowly drives by with a strong air hose blowing away the dust from any potential places that will need repair.

Then another crew follows behind with a truck that puts out the tar while three more guys brush it into the cracks to seal them. 

We have quite a few miles of roadway within the park and these guys are walking every step of the way while they brush the tar under the beautiful Arizona full sunshine and 100 degree temp.  Whew!!!!  It’s no wonder they want to start in the early morning.  I try to remind our residents of that when I hear someone complain that the crews awaken them too early in the mornings.

We had a very pleasant surprise this morning when we looked out the kitchen window.  A young praying mantis came to rest on our screen.  I’ve seen quite a few of them in the shrubs and flower garden but today’s guest was a special gift.  Back in the old days when we owned a large home in Ohio, our yard was actually sanctioned as a Wildlife Habitat area by the Audubon Society as we had so many flowers, plants, feeders, ponds, for our furred and feathered friends.  We bought mantis egg cases from the internet and placed them in our yard to help with the insects.  We got some awesome photos back then.
Today’s guest:

Our Ohio friends from days of yore:


Cool pictures, aren’t they??  Not bad for an amateur photographer like me….if I do say so myself.

More Work Photos

I saw more action up at the front entrance to the park this week so had to stop for some photos.  Looks like we have some bushes for those front entrance planters and colorful flowers will be placed in front.  Lots of work goes into preparing a bed for planting. 



Fustino from our PC landscape crew prepared and planted the front beds all by himself!
 

The front nine is completed.  We saw skids of seed bags strategically placed along the route and noticed that they had to cover all the new sand traps before seeding. 


It was fascinating to learn the intricate process involved with seeding the greens and tee boxes.  To assure a proper dispersal of seed, the path of the spreaders is marked with paint to assure that no area is missed.  Then they go in the opposite direction, and again diagonally.  If you zoom in and look closely at these next two photos, you’ll see the marks on the ground.


Next comes the watering process.  Water. Water. Water.



We had a different  crew of tree monkeys to watch this week.  This crew debarked the palms.  I stopped and asked why as I wanted to be sure about the info.  The trees are skinned for appearance.  Yes, it also helps eliminate insects, but the primary reason is for appearance and neatness.  In addition to trimming higher on the trees along Oasis, they also skinned the trees at the rose garden.
 

Remember the new tree in front of the office entrance that I showed a few days ago??  (Hong Kong Orchid).  My chief photographer (Bill Wrightson) got some action shots of it being planted.  Thought you might enjoy seeing the process.


Had to measure the tree and the hole to make sure it was deep enough.

That’s a big tree with a HEAVY dirt ball around it.

Now measure to make certain it is exactly centered in the planter.


Final results!  Whew!

As well as planting trees, Fernando is quick on the trigger to remove any trees that are in the way or that aren’t growing well.  A few palms have seen their demise.

Any day now I’m expecting to see truck loads of flowers arrive.  Last year they placed a whole herd of flats of beautiful flowers in the parking lot by the Street of Dreams until they could be planted.  It’s quite overwhelming to see them all in one area.  The front entrance is being prepped with new underground sprinkler systems and I have people on alert to let me know when they arrive so we have camera in hand.

That’s my update for today.  If I make a post too large, it takes FOREVER to upload and publish.  I bid you farewell for another day.