February 27, 2013

Desert Sky, Apache Junction, AZ

My back felt the best it has in over a week.  I convinced Monte he should take a day of rest from his solar installation project.  He had put in three long days of climbing, pulling, twisting and lifting heavy objects.

  Not wanting to waste a day towards completing the project we used the time to pick up some items he needed from Home Depot.

 

 

 

 

Four batteries will be housed in the front storage section.  Monte plans on putting them on a piece of plywood.

 

 

 

 

 

Back home I sat outside taking advantage of the warmer weather until the sun went down at which time it got quite chilly.

 

 Hey guys, where is my bowl?

Now that's what I'm talking about.

 

Heaven, I'm in heaven!

 

I never met a box I didn't like.

 

 

February 26, 2013

Desert Sky, Apache Junction, AZ

Although still a little sore, the ache in my back wasn’t as bad as the day before and I was starting to get cabin fever so I went out for a couple of hours. 

 My first stop was at the Apache Junction Public Library.  I had been there on previous visits to Arizona and knew that they had a book store offering deeply discounted hard cover and paperback books.  I really only went to browse because I still have some paperbacks that I brought along from “home” in Florida.  I have a Samsung tablet that I plan to use as a reader when I finish reading the paperbacks that I have.  An added bonus of clearing out the paperbacks will be having another cabinet freed for other things.

After leaving the library, I stopped at Walmart and checked out the clearance rack.  There was nothing that I “had” to have so I picked up a few grocery items and checked out.

The Dollar Tree, located directed across the street from Walmart, was my next stop.  I bought new placemats for our dining room table. 

 

 

 

 

 

 I tape them together on the back so they don’t move.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Before leaving home I had checked the Fry’s weekly ad on-line and saw that both milk and juice were on special.  I also found some Manager’s Specials in the produce department.  I added three gallons of water to my cart and checked out.  The water in the area we are staying has a funny taste to it so we have been using bottled water.  I stopped at the lottery machine on my way out and purchased some tickets for the next drawing. 

Monte was up on the roof when I returned but he climbed down the ladder to help me carry in the groceries. 

 He accomplished a lot while I was gone having wired all the panels and connected them to the combiner box.

As I was putting away the groceries I saw that I had two carrots that were starting to go bad so I cut them up and threw them outside near the fence because there are bunnies living in the park. 

Sure enough less than five minutes later there was a bunny munching away on a carrot.  I spooked him when I came outside but I did manage to get a picture before he hopped away. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I took advantage of the beautiful weather to sit outside and do a couple of crossword puzzles. 

One of our cats, Pumpkin.  He is giving me that look that says, "I want to be alone."

Our other cat, Anne, hiding from Pumpkin.  One of Pumpkin's favorite past times (when he isn't sleeping) is to chase Anne.

"Don't worry, Anne, I'll protect you from that meanie."

Pumpkin "helping" Monte sort through items in a box.

"I didn't do it.  I'm innocent I tell ya."

"I think I will make this toolbag my new bed."

February 25, 2013

Desert Sky, Apache Junction, AZ

My back was still aching today but not as much as yesterday so hopefully I am on the mend.   I took advantage of the beautiful weather to sit outside for a couple of hours.  It was so warm that I didn’t need a jacket-a big difference from the prior day when it was cold enough to need a ski cap. 

Monte took a ride to Harbor Freight because he saw they had a heat gun on sale. 

 

 

 

 

 

He will need the gun to heat shrink tubing on our solar installation project.

(He sold his heat gun at one of the garage sales we had prior to leaving Florida because we didn’t think we would have need for one-you know how that goes!!) 

 

 

 

I say “our” project although he is the one doing all the work.  My contribution is taking pictures (except the ones on the roof because there was no way I could climb a ladder with my back issues.)

When Monte returned he cleared out some things from the basement to have better access to the sub-basement panel so he could see where he could bring down wiring from the roof. 

Monte drilled a hole in the roof for the wire but it wasn't big enough so he enlarged it.





 His next step was to install the combiner box on the roof.  (Monte is going to give a more detailed step by step installation process when the project is completed. 

 

 

 

I cooked some hot dogs and kielbasa for dinner on our Cuisinart portable grill.  

 

 

 

 

 

Monte ran out of daylight so he re-stowed everything.

February 24, 2013

Desert Sky, Apache Junction, AZ

My back was still aching so I spent the day trying and failing to find a comfortable position.  It was chilly but I wanted to get some fresh air so I bundled up with ski cap and jacket for around an hour and sat outside doing my crossword puzzle. 

I took pictures of Monte carrying the solar panels to the roof one by one. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I felt bad that I couldn’t help him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Adding to his burden was the wind. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But he persevered and accomplished his goal for the day-getting the panels secured on the roof.

February 23, 2013

Desert Sky, Apache Junction, AZ

I spent most of the day trying to get caught up on scanning receipts with our Neat machine.  We purchased the scanner before we left Florida because we don’t have room for paper statements, documents and receipts.  The process of sorting out which receipts to scan and which ones can be tossed is manageable if done on a monthly basis.  But I was lazy and had let the statements and receipts pile up since October so it was a much bigger project than it should have been.    Monte started some pre-assembly on our solar panels. 

In the late afternoon we took a ride to my daughter Renee’s house for some homemade pizza and calzones and watched the last couple of episodes of The Walking Dead and the movie John Carter. 

I pulled my back out a couple of days ago and the discomfort I was feeling got worse as the evening wore on.  By the time we got home I was so stiff Monte had to help me out of the car and into our rig.  Back pain is not new for me-I have had recurring bouts of back issues since I was involved in a car accident in 2000.  Most days I have an annoying ache that I have learned to live with but every once in a while I either misstep or turn the wrong way and WHAM—serious pain for days. 

February 22, 2013

Desert Sky, Apache Junction, AZ

We took a ride into Mesa to pick up the batteries we had ordered as part of our solar installation project.  (I will write a separate entry about the solar installation when it is all complete.) 

We had never been to downtown Mesa before so I hadn’t know how nice it was—I would have liked to park and walk around a bit but we were pressed for time so we went directly to the battery store. 

We have decided to extend our stay at Desert Sky another month so we can install the solar so we may have another opportunity to visit downtown Mesa again.

Monte also purchased a battery for the used scooter he bought from a listing on Craig’s List.  (See February 18 entry for details)

 

 

 

 

Of course he had to test the scooter out when we got home. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even I gave it a try

  and

 have to admit it was fun.

February 21, 2013

Desert Sky, Apache Junction, AZ

Monte spent part of the day getting all the water off our slide toppers and roof from the melted grabble that fell the previous night.  I took a ride to my daughter Renee’s house to get caught up on laundry.  Other than that it was an uneventful day and sometimes that is a good thing. 

February 20, 2013

Desert Sky, Apache Junction, AZ

            We had quite a surprise when we woke up this morning and looked at the mountain---SNOW.

  Monte got dressed, grabbed his camera and walked across the street to the college and took pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

When he got back home, he suggested we take a ride on Apache Trail to get a better look.

  I made us some hot cocoa to take along.

 

 

 

 

First we drove on Superstition Highway and then on Apache Trail. 

 

 We pulled over across from the Elvis Memorial Chapel to take pictures of other people taking pictures. 

 

 

 

 

 

Later on, while we were having dinner, it started raining.  Or so I thought.  It actually was grabble.  Grabble is a weather term referring to light, hail-like snow. 

When we opened the door to our rig we were surprised to discover everything blanketed with grabble. 

 

 

Pumpkin knows what to do on a cold day.

I decided to bake some mini banana muffins to help warm up our rig.

And since I had the oven warm already I made a batch of brownies.