Thursday 2

Just spotted this story from the Tucson news.  Looks like we have a new sports bar opening out at the Promenade Mall.

Thursday

Good Morning!  We're having a nice but brief respite from the high temperatures but the precious rain has upped our humidity.  Whew.  We had another nice rain early this morning.

Crews are busy out in the construction area.  Pretty blue pipe is for potable water.  The purple sewer pipe had to be laid first as it is the deepest.  Then those trenches get filled in and they dig to install the potable water pipes.  The EPA requires that the pipes be separated both by depth and distance between so there's lots of digging to do.
 
The other courts are getting closer to completion.

 
It looks like the lawn bowls area is really getting a make over! 

 
The whole crew was out here this morning.

 

 

 
Say hello to another newcomer on the staff.  This is Erica Lesus who is our new Guest Services Director. 

 

 

Wednesday (Tuesday storm)

Another haboob!  A typical monsoon dust storm arrived late yesterday afternoon with plenty of blowing dust. 

 

 

 
The good news is that the dust was followed by LOTS of precious rain!  It rained long and hard so much of the dust was washed away.  We drove all around the resort this morning looking for any damage but didn't find any. 

There was lots of water in the ponds which is exactly as it is supposed to work.

 

 
The koi and catfish were very happy as they had new worlds to explore and fresh grass to eat.  We could see them swimming up on the course in places.

 
This scene was a surprise though!  This is looking down the 8th fairway which is usually very flooded after a storm.  It's all clear!  Looks like that new drainage project is working beautifully.

 
Meanwhile, normal landscaping chores continue.

 
Our new courts survived the storm just fine.  Crews are very busy prepping the next set for pouring.

 
We could see the purple pipe for irrigation now laid between the wall and the water channel.  This is where the hedge of bushes will be planted.

 

Pouring concrete for the new curbs.

 

 

Pouring concrete for the trash area.

 

With all the exciting construction and maintenance news, we can't forget the regular work that continues on a daily basis around here.  I caught Linda Balzan just returning from the mail delivery.  Thank you, Linda and staff for taking care of our mail every day!

 

 

 

It is only 10:00 a.m. but I'm posting now so if you heard about our storm on the news, you won't need to worry.  No damage anywhere that we could find.

 

Monday

It can't help but be a good day when you start off with a friendly hello from one of our feathered friends.

 
Crews were busy at work again this morning.  Lots of pretty blue pipe has been delivered near the housing sites.  I'm going to guess blue must be for drinking water.......will get that confirmed next time I see Jim.

 
Three quadrants of courts have been poured.  They almost had to postpone the pour last night because of threatening lightning but they were luckily able to finish without incident.  It's hard to see from this distance, but the center court no longer has that black cable sticking out of the sides.  That's because the post tension has been applied. 

 
Now prepping for the next courts.

 

 
Today they're pouring concrete behind the retainer wall around the sunken courts.

 

 
Jim Dawson is home getting some much needed sleep after being up all night but we saw Lillie on site. 

 
Took this photo from the deck of Site 28.  Hey Bill--I don't know how you can miss all this excitement.  I think I'd just curl up in front of your air conditioned window and watch all this action.

 
Elsewhere in the park, we see forms being built for the new curbing.  Hopefully this will keep the big rigs from driving over the curbs and breaking them.

 
Work still continues for repairing out streets within the park.

 
The tent cover needed repair.

 
Lillie caught this photo or remounting the tarp.

 
Meanwhile, all the buildings are being patched and repainted.  But....even though the card room is closed for painting, they were kind enough to give us a table in the billiards room so our afternoon entertainment could continue.

The Activities Office is getting a new ticket desk.  We found Angela, Eddie, and Luis hauling out the old one to make room for the new.

This summer has been absolutely amazing and bustling with activity between the construction and all our summer events.  Yesterday we had a "They're Coming Back" dinner for summer residents.  Yummy sloppy joes, jello salad, homemade soup, chips, salsa, and ice cream for dessert. 

It won't be long now.

Friday

Welcome back to Lesley and Kent Evans!!  Kent is a dedicated member of the Urban Miners here at Palm Creek.  The Urban Miners are the devoted men that take care of our aluminum recycling so they can benefit others with their cash rewards.  Since Kent and Lesley are permanent residents here, Lesley gets recruited while the others are absent.  They have been away for the last few weeks and the moment I saw their golf cart going down the street this morning, I knew where I would find them. 

 

Oh...why not?  One more photo op for the barrel cactus.  This one is quite colorful and I like the zipper-looking cactus in the background.   

 
Remember when I posted this photo of Eddie spraying for bees??

Here is the aftermath!  Wow!  These bees were firmly entrenched in that sprinkler box.  Woe be to the innocent person who lifted that lid without knowing what was in there!  Sorry to lose the bees but happy that we're safe from stings in this busy traffic area.

 

 
Construction looked pretty quiet when Don and I drove over there Friday morning so I didn't take any photos at that time...........but, that afternoon Jim called and I eagerly tagged along for another tour.  The reason things seemed quiet is because the construction crews opted to work four 10 hour days and take an extra day home out of the heat.  Sounds like a good idea as I'm sure they need time to recover.

All the sewer work should be completed by this Monday!  Here is a photo of the completed sewer connections for the new home sites.  (Remember...green pipe means sewer) 

 
This area is marked off with green paint to show where the trash dumpsters will be located.  A nice protective wall will block off the area.

  
Just to the left of that is where recycling bins will be located.

 
Here is a close up of the retaining wall around the sunken courts.  I'm a real rookie at construction projects as I didn't realize a retaining wall like this gets poured full of concrete right into those bricks. 

 

 

 
Up toward the north gate, we found Antonio working on the irrigation line to Cottonwood.

 
Purple pipe....non-potable water. (gray water)

 
Always a friendly smile from our staff members!

 
And of course......here's Faustino with shovel in hand!!

 

I learned more about sewer access again.  The rings of concrete you see here are like adjustable collars.  You can add as many as you want to adjust the height of the cover.   

 
This is the future street.

 
When this gets filled in with dirt, the sewer access will be buried and paved over with the asphalt.  These surveyor markers (green flags for sewer) and 'hyroglyphics' will be vital in marking the exact location.  Two markers are put in position.  When the street is paved, they will measure a 15ft arc from each marker to determine the exact location of the manhole.  Then they drill through the asphalt and adjust the height of the collars to bring them to street level.  Ta Da!!  You now have the typical manhole cover you see on every street.  Ha!!  Whoever would'a thunk about all that science and math stuff!  I learn so much every time we go out there.  I never even thought about this process before so I find it fascinating! 

 
The curly green wire coming up from underground serves a vital purpose in locating a sewer line.  They can attach some kind of electrical device to the end and then follow the exact line of the sewer pipe as it travels underground. 

Our next stop was over by the main trash and recycling area (near the maintenance buildings).  The dumpsters are temporarily moved away so this area can be leveled and prepped for concrete.  This will be all concrete soon and then the dumpsters will be placed back against the wall allowing a lot more room in the area.

We will take the tires and axles off this black truck trailer and place it at the far west end to be used for storage for props and special events.  Great idea and very cost effective! 

Okay...it is now three big cups of coffee later as I finish this post for the weekend.  I get Sunday off!  (unless, of course, something really exciting happens :))

Keep those emails coming my way.  I like to forward some to Jim Dawson so he knows how much we appreciate his time in trying to educate me and make these pictures possible!

Email:  sue77hepler@yahoo.com