Don and I took a ride this afternoon with camera in hand to take pictures of some of the construction progress around town.

The most exciting site is, of course, the new mall just on the east side of Hiway 10. Most of you passed it on your way out of town. The recent progress is remarkable as you can see from these photos. Walls are springing up all over the place and even on this Sunday afternoon, trucks and workers were active like bees. There are only a few signs posted identifying the various buildings. The ones listed are Harkin’s Theaters, Staples, and Pet Smart.


Approaching the new "Prominade Mall" from the overpass.
Here's the view from on top the overpass looking north up Hiway 10.
This view is heading east just past the overpass.
This is one of the buildings closest to the road.

The next most important site will be watching the construction of the new high school just across the street from Palm Creek. I took these pictures from the corner of Cottonwood and Arizola. You can see Palm Creek in the background so you know how close this new building will be.



Medical buildings are bouncing up all over near the park. Here are some new medical facilities going up right alongside the hotel across the street. There are quite a few more going up on McMurray. Casa Grande will be a convenient stay for anyone needing medical assistance.

The building to the left is the hotel. The new medical buildings are alongside and behind the hotel. This photo is taken from McMurray.

Our owls are still residing in the lot outside the main gate but their surroundings are sure being cut down. I keep a close eye on them as much as possible and have the phone number of the endangered species organization handy should I see any dangerous activity near their home. These cute little feathered guys are protected by law. Whoever buys that property will face a big expense in moving the owls to a new location.

The Season Winds Down

Sooooo…..the season is truly winding down. The major activities are done, most of the RV folks are headed home or on the road again, and we “year rounders” are enjoying the peace and quiet that descends upon the streets of our beautiful resort. The weather has been gorgeous…80s by day, 50s by night. Neither air conditioners nor heaters needed; just the rustling sound of the breezes through the palm trees and the singing birds (and, of course, the gentle sound of the plentiful cooing doves). I expect our rabbit population may dwindle a bit as a couple of coyotes have been spotted near the golf course toward dusk and early morning. Certainly can’t blame them for sneaking in here where furry critters, fresh water, and cool green grasses abound.

I took a leisurely bike ride down Cole Circle tonight and stopped to admire the pretty flowers along the way. The geraniums, pansies, oleanders, and other flowering bushes are coming into their prime. Too bad so many people have to leave before the flowering peak season. Speaking of FLOWERS!!....here are some photos of the awesome cactus blossoms that appear at Site ____. We’ve counted as many as 12-15 in the past, but last week there were 60 huge white flowers all in bloom at the same time! What an extraordinary sight to behold. Wow. They’re beautiful flowers and only last for one day so these pictures were taken at exactly prime time.

Party at Ron & Nancy's...without Ron and Nancy

It was a beautiful sunny Arizona day but the wind was quite ferocious. Where can we comfortably sit for our afternoon happy hour???? Ron and Nancy's patio looked like the perfect spot....protected from the wind but still with lots of sunshine. The only dilemma is that Ron and Nancy weren't home. No problem....we gathered on their patio anyway and just waited for them to return. Here we are waving a cheery hello to our hosts....wherever they may be. Thanks for the hospitality!!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year and Welcome to 2007! Have you already faced that long hesitation when you try to write the date with the new year?? Ha...join the club.

Our New Year's celebration started off with a fun happy hour at Carol and Bernie's place. Lots of fun, sunshine, good food, and good friends.

Later that evening we had a gathering at Ron and Nancy's new park model to bring in the new year. It was a fun group and we certainly welcome them to the neighborhood. Thanks for a great time! We played a crazy game where we all learned that counting to 30 was a major chore that was beyond us at that hour of the celebration.

The next party followed a few days later. It was an impromptu neighborhood happy hour that started at Jim and Valerie's place. For some reason, that neighborhood has always been party central. We definitely welcome Jim and Valerie, and Ron and Nancy to our new crew of revelers. Our sympathies go to whoever doesn't attend the party. This time it was Mike and Bev who were absent. A few party leftovers somehow wound up in their driveway to welcome them home and let them know they were missed.

That same neighborhood band of revelers arranged for a group dinner the following Friday night. We gathered together and caravaned out to Picacho Steak House for a delicious steak dinner or some of us opted for their famous Friday night fish fry. Great food....and a very "homey?" atmosphere. Take exit 211A off of Hiway 10 to get to the steakhouse for some delicious food. Next time Jerry and Judy better be ready on time!

And a Very Merry Christmas It Was

What a beautiful Christmas Day!! Lots of friends out and about shouting Holiday Greetings. I think we fed Christmas chicken to most of the pets in the park. It has long been a standing tradition that we keep fresh chicken in our frig for whenever folks stop by with their pets. The puppies come running toward our house if they should see us outside cause they know there's a treat waiting for them. These cute pics were all taken today as guests stopped by.
First guests were Gigi and Murphy.
Rally, the wonder dog.
And Macey wearing her "Who's Your Doggie?" t-shirt and sporting a collar of jingle bells.

This afternoon we headed up to the ballroom for a Christmas feast. I didn't think the park crew could possibly be as successful as they were in preparing our Thanksgiving meal, but they did it again. They managed to serve over 400 people in just 20 minutes and each table received hot delicious home cooked food. It was great! Thank you to all the volunteers and kitchen elves who made it possible. We had a happy hour at 3:00 with dinner following at 4 and lots of laughter
through the whole afternoon.

Even the weather cooperated to give us a great day with temps in the high 60s and plenty of Arizona sunshine. Folks were out golfing, playing pickleball, riding bikes, playing tennis, and just having a fun time.

Christmas Approaches

Tis the season to be Jolly......and we are! My Dad once told me a story: "When I was a lad, my mother said when she was young Christmas came but once every 10 years but now it seems to come 10 times a year. I can now understand what she meant." Thanks, Dad....I now understand it too. Wow, does time ever pass quickly. To quote another saying: "Time flies when you're having fun!"

Bev and Mike Connolly hosted their famous "Love Thy Neighbor" Christmas party last weekend. What a great time! This year's bash was held in the San Tan card room here at the resort so we could eat, drink, and be merry indoors. We all brought a nice gift to place at the front table. After a delicious potluck happy hour, we opened the packages via drawing numbers from the hat. When your number was drawn, you could open a gift from the table or steal one from someone who had already opened theirs. What a riot! Highly envied gifts like booze, vibrating chair cushions, beverage blenders, etc. got traded back and forth like hot potatoes! Lots of raucous laughter emerged as some folks chased after coveted stolen gifts. Bev finally had to limit the number of trades so the party could continue. I'm sure we all went home with a plethora of happy memories. Thank you, Bev and Mike, for a wonderful time.





We not only celebrate the Christmas season at this time of year, but some of us have wedding anniversaries to honor as well. Bob and Bev Carte celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on December 18 plus Don and I hit our 38th on December 21. We joined forces and went out to dinner at Picacho Steakhouse for a super evening of good food, great friendships, and awards for putting up with each other so many years. I'm posting some casual photos of the happy couples.


Bob and Bev received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from their daughter, Susan.


Algadonas, Mexico
This blurb about Mexico isn't really related to Christmas, but I neglected to post this earlier so you get the info today. Better late than never.
Don and I are avid Mexico shoppers when it comes to dentistry, drugs, eye glasses, etc. as the service, prices, and adventures are well worth the trip. If any of our Palm Creek friends are interested in going and want detailed information or recommendations for specific doctors, etc., give us a call. Just a word of advice for visiting south of the border during winter season: Be prepared to face a long line when returning through customs...and be sure to have your passport handy as new regulations are effective January 2007. Just allow yourself some extra time when planning to leave as the line will be long but moves along rather quickly. We usually start up a friendly conversation with other folks in line and before you know it, you have new stories to share and have met some great friendly people from other parts of the country (or Canada!). Here are some pics of the exit line on our last trip.






Remember the story I posted about Donna and Larry Kraft and their new puppy named Blanco? They were here for a nice visit yesterday so, of course, we have updated photos of our "godpuppy". This was Blanco's first real experience at "socializing" with so many different people and other dogs. She did really well and as you can see, she wasn't intimidated by Rally's large size.




Our little godpuppy loves shoestrings so be careful when you get up to walk around.



Here's Donna proudly showing her newest family addition to Bob and Bev.

It was so nice to see our cluster of friends together again.

New Blog Format

This blogger website has an updated version so you will notice a new format. Nice work. Thanks Blogger! (Google)

You'll notice some icons at the bottom of each update. You can post a message at each one to say hello or to add your two cents to my comments. (Be kind!) Feel free to post a message.

By clicking on the email icon, you can email the blog to a friend. Please feel free to share this blog with any other Palm Creek friends.

A special thank you to those who do send comments. It's much appreciated and keeps me motivated to do more updates!

Local News and Tidbits

Ho Ho Ho.....the Holidays are rapidly approaching and the park looks lovely with all the lights and activity. Folks back east will envy us as we decorate in short sleeves in the bright sunshine.





Neighbors assist with the decorating. That's George helping Mike...and Don keeping Frank in line.





The biggest chuckle this week came from my friend Char. We were invited over to Jan's for a "girls night" to just goof off, relax, and have a good time watching a DVD of Desperate Housewives. Char topped the cake, however, when she showed up in her finest regalia.

Construction around Casa Grande continues at a rapid pace. The bulldozers and construction equipment at the new mall location are busy and active.

An article appeared in the local paper about the location for the new high school. It will be located on the southeast corner of Cottonwood and Arizola. Rumor used to be that it would be adjacent to our Palm Creek but now we can lay that rumor to rest.

The city is going to build its first dog park and hopes to have it open by August of 2007. It will be located on approxmately four acres at Ed Hooper Rodeo Park located at the northwest corner of Rodeo Road and Pinal Avenue with an initial budget of $60,000. Should be interesting to see and a fun place to visit with our pets. Our community continues to expand.

No other big news this week. Just getting ready for all the upcoming holiday parties and festivities plus scurrying around with Christmas shopping. If the resort's Christmas dinner turns out half as good as the Thanksgiving party, we'll have another wonderful event.

Thank you, Jan

We have a new contributor to the blog. Thank you, Jan Waters for bringing home some pictures of the electric light parade. I didn't realize that the parade would be that special until I saw the Palm Creek float drive down Cole Circle on a practice run Friday night. The volunteers who built the float deserve a true "atta boy/girl" for doing such a great job. Mark that event on your calendars for next year as it's quite a spectacle to see. It drew big crowds for Casa Grande.



I must also share an email I got from Jan this morning. Our weather has been windy and cold the last three days. Well...cold for Arizona anyway. The rest of the country is in low teens with ice and snow so a cold day for us means 40-50. Anyway....the pet owners are bundled up and shivering as they walk their puppies in the brisk mornings. Thus this email from Jan today: "Must tell you about my morning. Went to walk Rally for his morning constitution. It was really chilly and windy out!! He pooped and when I picked it up in a little plastic baggie, it was nice and warm and kinda squishy. I thought to myself, "You might be a redneck if you use dog poop as a hand warmer."


Thank you, Jan for a good laugh. You should send that one to Jeff Foxworthy on Comedy Central. P.S. Jan is also famous for winning the hula hoop contest on stage at the Welcome Back dinner this fall.

Thanksgiving 2006

Okay....that had to be one of the best Thanksgiving events ever to be held at Palm Creek!! First of all, the meal was absolutely delicious!! I can't imagine how the cooks and volunteers managed to cook up that much food for so many people and have it turn out that scrumptuous. We had tender moist turkey all finely carved, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, creamed corn, dressing, gravy, cranberries, and fresh dinner rolls followed by awesome pumpkin or pecan pie. Every one of the dishes was just as delicious as home cooking. Most puzzling of all was how they managed to serve each table so fast and keep the food hot. My heartiest congratulations to the cooking staff. That was a fantastic meal. Thank you ever so much from all of us. Every attendee was delighted with the dinner. I must mention that the decorations and table settings were very nice too.

The event was well coordinated and organized so everyone had a reserved table that was clearly marked for easy seating. There was plenty of room between tables which allowed us to mingle and socialize with other guests before dinner. We had access to the tables an hour before serving time so we had the opportunity to have a glass of wine and chat before the meal. Diane did a fantastic job as hostess to the event and kept us entertained and on time. I believe her specific title is "Special Events Coordinator" and she does a terrific job. Thank you, Diane. Your friendship and enthusiasm is appreciated by all.

After dinner we had an option of watching football with the big screen TV or playing games or bingo. Quite a few people did opt to stay for more social time which proved to be a lot of fun. Those of us who stayed for bingo and managed to win got to take home one of the nice table decorations or potted plants. They made for some very nice prizes. After bingo some of us stayed to play a fun round of Mad Gab. What a crazy game! It was really fun and I may have to go out and buy a game to keep around for some hilarious happy hours.

Thanks again to Palm Creek for a great day of beautiful sunshine, great food, fun entertainment, and most of all for the warm friendships.

Fantastic Weather

To my children back in Ohio....I send my sympathies for your cold chilling weather as we here in sunny Arizona are enjoying beautiful sunny skies and warm 80 degree temps every day this month. It's awesome!! I spent yesterday afternoon at the pool just basking in the sunshine, reading a good book, and occasionally taking a quick swim to cool off from the warm sun. It was just wonderful. Sometimes I actually feel guilty for having such a great time day after day. Life is pretty darn good right now.

Today Don and I drove up to Sun City to visit Donna and Larry Kraft. I put up some darling photos of their new puppy on my "Hepler Journal" website for you to view if you're interested. The puppy is just adorable at the ripe old age of 6 weeks and she's a full two pounds of pure love. It was so good to see the Kraft's with smiling faces once again.

As we approached Interstate 10 coming from Casa Grande, I snapped a few quick photos of the beginning of the new mall. There are scads of bulldozers, tractors, and various digging machines out there in the field. The ground is all plowed up and is being prepped for the new mall. How exciting! I'll try to get a picture every few weeks so you can watch the progress. New stores anticipated are Dillards, Target, Best Buy, Bed Bath & Beyond, a 14 theater complex, Applebees, Michaels, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, etc etc etc. It will be awesome! All you can see in these pics is open dirt so the progress will be great to watch.

A Family Visit

Bob and Bev Carte had a great visit with their daughter, Susan, who flew down to see them for a few days this week. It was wonderful to meet the daughter that they brag about so frequently. Have a safe trip back home, Susan. It was a pleasure to meet you!!

Busy Busy Busy

It is now November and "the season" seems to be in full swing. The calendar is full of times, dates, events, and the days pass ever so quickly. Each week is just a blur of activity. Monday night was Bingo (no, I haven't won YET but I'm usually quite lucky), and today was our first craft fair of the season. There were lots of Palm Creek people who had booths to display and sell some of their handicrafts and many other vendors peddling their wares. It's always fun to go shopping for "stuff". I stocked up on several new sun visors to ward off that bright, beautiful, glowing, warm Arizona sunshine. Folks back east.....eat your heart out! The weather has been fantastic with lots of sunshine and temps in the 80s by day and cool clear nights for great sleeping. Winter is almost upon us, however, as when the sun goes down it turns cool in a hurry and we scurry to put on a light jacket.

Saturday was the first "patio sale" day of the season where everyone can put out those white elephants for sale, clean out the closets, or sell those no longer needed items. Since Don and I are planning to sell our new Class C RV, we cleaned out a lot of items. I even put out some of my beaded jewelry items I've been making as I seem to have created more than I'll ever wear. While George got stuck staffing our booth, Bev, Jan and I scurried about the resort visiting everyone's patio sale to see if we could find new goodies or great bargains. See the next photo for our great results! Folks said we looked like the Beverly Hillbillies with our cart full of junk as we drove around. One family was even handing out free Mimosa drinks (orange juice and champagne) in fancy fluted glasses to anyone who bought something from their booth. Couldn't pass up that offer so I purchased a box of nails as my contribution. How fun!

A Tribute to Chi

Someone please help me with the words to describe our sorrow at the loss of a very dear, sweet, cute, lovable, cuddly, adorable little dog. Chi was the four-year old cherished long-hair Chihuahua owned by Larry and Donna Kraft. It was one of those freaky things of nature when Chi somehow managed to sneak outdoors to play and perhaps chase a furry rabbit but wandered too close to a neighboring golf course. A coyote sprung out of nowhere and ended Chi’s life instantly. People on the golf course saw the attack and chased after the coyote in an attempt to save the little dog, but it was too late. By the time the coyote dropped Chi, she was already gone. From the golfer’s description, she never knew what happened and never even had time to be frightened. I’m sure she never dreamed anything or anyone would hurt her since she lived such a warm and well-loved life.
Larry and Donna bought a lovely home and moved to Sun City this fall, leaving Palm Creek after five seasons here. They are conveniently located in a beautiful subdivision near several golf courses which, unfortunately, are occasionally frequented by wild coyotes.

Chi was very popular here at our resort. Many may remember last February when Chi won the award for the cutest dog at our first annual dog show. She was cute as a button and would perform tricks on command. One of our favorite memories is when she would come to our house and eat Hiway’s cat food. She was such a dainty little dog that she would carry two little pieces of cat food over to the carpet and munch it away, then return for two more pieces at a time. Little pieces of chicken were her favorite treat which we always tried to keep in the frig should Chi come for a visit. She was a real sweetheart and will be missed by one and all. Our hearts reach out to Larry and Donna for their loss of a very dear pet.