Monsoon Storm

WOW!!!  Our storm tonight is definitely newsworthy and was a sight to behold.  The sky was literally continuously lit up with heat lightning.  Just constant flashes and rumbles of thunder.  Earlier tonight we had a plain old fashioned dust storm but this rain came around 8:30 and was incredible to watch.  I wish I had a better night camera to capture the image.

If you can't open the video on your phone, go to my YouTube page to view:  Sue's YouTube Page

You can see the rain bouncing off the roof tops and coming down in a torrent.

Don and I will be up bright and early tomorrow to survey for any damages.  The wind wasn't that strong...less than 20 mph so there shouldn't be any damage....but there will be a lot of puddles.  Our cellphones kept beeping to warn of flash floods.

It has certainly been a dandy monsoon season so far!

Stay tuned for more news tomorrow.

Quiet so far

Friday morning:  We're having some light rain and rumbling thunder about 6:00 this morning but nothing exciting (so far).  Our crews have been out trying to clean up the streets.  The big bark from the palm trees gets strewn all around in the wind and has to be picked up before they can mow.

We had some small lakes on the golf course but they seem to be draining quite well.  Can't say that for some downtown places, however.  I had to go out to SouthWest Eye behind Cracker Barrel.  Their parking lot was a huge lake!  Almost needed wading boots to get inside the buildings.  😅

We can't really clean up some of the damaged homes yet as we have to wait for insurance adjusters to come view it in person.  That's another reason to have a housewatcher as we can let the adjustor inside to make inspections.

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Sunday:  The stricken palm tree at 1623 is still standing but certainly shows it has been injured.

With the Covid rules fading away, we've decided to risk going out to a few restaurants.  Because folks have boasted about the Friday fish fry at the Airport Tavern on Pinal, we gave it a try.

No need to dress up for dinner as this is your hometown "dive bar".  It turned out to be kind of a fun place and the fish fry was great.

Plenty of outdoor dining but I wouldn't recommend it until summer is gone.  They had some shade and plenty of misters but still too hot for comfort.

Good entertainment though.

Here's the owner:  Jill.  Very friendly and wild.  

BUT....this is still monsoon season so when we left, we faced an approaching dust storm.  High winds picked up in a hurry.  Sorry for the folks who were seated outdoors.

Spotted this beautiful cactus in bloom.  Please forward this to the owners at site 1926.

There was another one at 1739,

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Just a reminder for all us desert rats that are still here enduring the heat:  Thursday is "National Chili Dog" day.  Join us in the ballroom for a chili dog with optional cheese and onions on the side plus coleslaw, chips, dessert and soda.  Tickets are only $5 and must be purchased in Activities by Tuesday, July 27.

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No cat pictures for you today but I do want to share some of my son's entertaining artwork.  Anton and Hannah have a fish tank with two goldfish and a couple snails.  Anton painted a cute picture for us.

Then they adopted a stray kitten.

I asked for a happy cactus drawing for my birthday.

I love it.

Anton has a serious side to his art also.

He's working on a website: 

 www.antonheplerart.com

Today's Storm Damage

It was just a little dot on the radar when we awoke this morning around 5 am but when it started, it came with a vengeance.  I think it was one of the hardest rains we've ever seen here.  

Then there was a crashing blast of lightning as it struck the palm tree at site 1633 and we watched as the tree burst into flames.  By the time we got a camera focused, most of the big flames had gone out and it just continued to smolder.  It didn't look like we needed the fire department as there were no nearby structures but we called the front gate anyway.  It was such a loud crash that it set off our car alarm three blocks away.

Neil Jeffers came to investigate and stayed on site to make sure the flames went out.  Thank you, Neil for being so safety conscious.

As soon as the rain let up, we started our inspection tour (in our very soggy golf cart!)

As we drove around, we met with quite a few fellow housewatch people who were on duty.  Yes, there was some damage with the storm.  Site 1535.

I'm going to tease Don and Deana Taylor because their roof landed right along side their house.  When we lost our roof two years ago, it traveled three blocks away before landing.

Sun screens were quite scattered.  We at least cleared them off the street.

Whoops....I don't think they'll be placing the new house here today.

Ouch!  Plenty of damage at site 699 and 702.

We chatted with two different homeowners who reported that their roof started leaking due to the water backing up from the gutters.  I'm glad we had our gutters cleaned yesterday!!

Cleaning, Main Lake, Dish Update

Our dirt accummulated so much that we called in the pros today to help with clean up.  It was Mr. Maldonado and his crew of one to clear the patio and flush out the gutters that were obviously full and blocked.  Now we'll be ready for the next storm.

It doesn't pay to wash the house during this time of the year but it was certainly nice to have the patio clean if only for a few hours till the next storm.

The golf course is getting its annual aerating so looks pretty rough right now.

I think our recent rains should help.

The biggest event is how we are lowering the level of the main lake.  The water is down 11 feet followed by at least three feet of mud and sludge.  We've had so much trouble with the pumps and sprinkler heads plugging up that something must be done to clean up the pond.

Most of the fish have traveled to the other lake while the water is so low.  Our crew will try to scoop out some of the muck.  Mark Kenner says a contractor will be here soon to help evaluate the situation.  There is a liner in this lake.  They will be testing and evaluating to see if that liner must be pulled out and replaced.  Talk about a HUGE undertaking!

We had a catered meal tonight served by the Secret Ingredient food truck people.  It was delicious with a huge pulled pork sandwich, macaroni and cheese, broccoli salad, and pineapple upside down cake.  Very good!  We ate so fast that I forgot to take photos.  

Success!  The long promised internet upgrade is complete.  We received a letter this week.

DISH UPDATE

12 July, 2021

Palm Creek Residents & Guests –

It has been a long process but we are finally there.  Our long awaited and heavily delayed DISH upgrade has been completed.  Although it was a bit more difficult than expected to switch over to the new service we are done.  I am happy to report that our current users are seeing internet speeds much higher than expected.  So now that we have switched to our new service what does this mean for our residents, and what should you expect.

-        1^st   Anyone who currently has a DISH internet account will be receiving a final bill from DISH (Internet only) very soon.  During the transition of billing from DISH to Palm Creek there will be no disruption of service so no need to worry.

-        2^nd   Palm Creek will not begin internet billing residents and guests until August 2^nd, this means all users in the resort will receive internet throughout the month of July. 

-        3^rd   Any residents or guests who would like to sign up for Palm Creek internet service will be required to fill out a quick sign up form at guest services prior to July 30th.  Once the form is received the resort will activate your service and your billing will commence.

The new service will provide up to 50mbps and will be $65 a month.  Monthly billing will run the same as your sewer and trash schedule.  Residents will be billed directly on their ledger like trash and sewer, transient guests will be billed through their reservation.

Please stop by guest services for more information.

Palm Creek Resort & Residences

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That's all I have for today.   "The boys" are sitting here waiting for their evening treat.