Going On The Road with Monte & Rose

March 21, 2013

Desert Sky, Apache Junction, AZ

This is a rare sight- Pumpkin and Anne sharing the chair. It is usually Anne's chair until Pumpkin decides he wants it and chases her off.

True to form, five minutes after the first picture was taken, Pumpkin decided he didn't want to share the chair after all.

We planned on doing some chores today-Monte was going to clean the roof and I was going to give my car a much needed cleaning. But our plans changed. Prior to going on the road we had discussed the possibility of getting satellite and even budgeted money for it and two receivers. But we held off because we wanted to see how much TV we would actually be watching in our new lifestyle.

I thought I would be content with just catching up on favorite shows through HuluPlus while staying at RV campgrounds. Now that we have solar and are going to try to do a lot of boon docking I started have TV withdrawals.

So when I casually mentioned to Monte that I wish we had satellite, he responded that if we are going to get it we had better do it while we are still here at Desert Sky.

After doing research we decided we would go with the King Dome Relay Antenna that is permanently mounted on the roof. Monte called around and found a dealer close by who gave us a good price. She said she could order it for us but we would have to stop by to pre-pay for it and that it would be delivered to her shop by 3pm.

Monte had received an e-mail from Camping World that they were having a special sale for e-mail customers. There were coupons for LED pancake light kits normally selling for $58.88 but now reduced to $19.99. When he called the closest store located in Mesa they said they had plenty. He also inquired about the VIP 211k Satellite Receivers that were listed on sale through the internet only. The manager said he would give us the internet price in the store. He had two receivers left and said he would put them aside for us.

We stopped at Dillon’s RV City to pay for the King Dome antenna and then continued on to Camping World.

When we arrived, Monte asked for the man he had spoken to on the phone. He was busy with another customer. By the time he was free to assist us there were only 4 pancake light kits left. BUMMER! He informed us that people had come in earlier and purchased as many as 12 at a time. We also asked about the receivers that were supposed to have been put aside for us. Oops. He forgot.

But luckily the two receivers were still on the shelf and the sale price was honored.

We stopped in at Walmart and went our separate ways. I picked up a few grocery items while Monte went to the camping section. When I was ready to check out I reached into my purse to the pocket I usually store my phone in and NO PHONE. UH OH. I walked around the store a couple of times looking for Monte. When I couldn’t find him I decided to check out and put the items in the car. I returned to the store and searched for another 10 minutes until I finally bumped into him. It is amazing how we have come to rely on our devices.

Of course Monte said he had called and left several messages on my phone. He had received a call from Dillon’s that our antenna had been delivered to the store and was ready for pick up.

We drove there and had to do some shuffling of items in the trunk to accommodate the huge box.

We didn’t have any rope so he went back in the store and was given an old bungee cord to hold the trunk door down for the short ride home.

Back home, Monte took the antenna out of the box and read the mounting instructions.

He took a quick ride to the hardware store for the screws he was going to need.

Pumpkin can't resist an open box.

He plans on doing the installation early tomorrow morning before it gets too hot to work on the roof.

After dinner we attended the Mesa Temple Easter Pageant. According to the show program, the entire cast of approximately 425 and the backstage crew of nearly 100 are all volunteers. There are more than 2,000 costume pieces. Extensive research was done to ensure that every piece of wardrobe is as historically accurate as possible. The 9,600 square-foot stage is multileveled and features state-of-the-art lighting and sound equipment.

On the drive to the Pageant the sunset was spectacular. I took several pictures but none of them did justice to the beauty of colors we witnessed.

We thought arriving a full hour early to the production would be sufficient time. We were mistaken. Luckily we found a close parking spot that my compact car fit.

I had read on-line that seats were provided but filled up fast and lawn chairs were allowed so we brought our chairs with us. But the area set aside for blankets and lawn chairs was too far away from the stage. We were able to find seats approximately mid-way down.

I overheard someone say that there were 10,000 seats set up and I believe it.

By the time the production began (on time) there were very few seats available.

Prior to the show starting, the actors walked around in costume posing for pictures.

We couldn’t have asked for better weather. It was warm enough to be in short sleeves.

From the moment the lights were dimmed and the show began with the trumpeting of angels up high

until the final scene when the entire stage was filled with all the actors, I was impressed with the Broadway production quality of the Pageant.

Unfortunately, between being seated so far from the stage and the bright spot lights drowning out the actors our pictures did not come out as well as we had hoped.