A SURPRISE WEEK

We have had a week getting settled in to our home for the month of March – Happy Trails Resort in Surprise, Arizona.

We have actually stayed in Happy Trails (HT) quite a few times, but never long enough to feel a part of the community.  On Monday we did the paperwork to get our “transponder” which will open security gates without having to show a visitor pass whenever we entered the main park or our site located out in the newest section, The Ranch (not to be confused with the Escapees’ North Ranch or The Ranch in Congress).

Our friends Ken and Bonnie Martin have had a place in the  “Ranch” area of Happy Trails for many years and we have either rented their extra lot or rented from one of their neighbors in our previous visits.  This time (like our original visit) our lot rental was arranged through Surprise Real Estate.  As it turns out, we are back in the Ranch, next to the Martins’ extra lot. 

SPRING TRAINING SEASON

Originally we had planned to only stay a week, but this is Baseball Spring Training month in the Greater Phoenix area, home of the Cactus League.  Surprise Stadium, just a few miles from us, is the home to both the Texas Rangers and the Kansas City Royals. Sites are hard to come by, so we decided to “sit” for a month in one spot to use as a home base and to watch our San Francisco Giants play in various stadiums.

This coming Wednesday night we are flying-in our Grandson Tanner and son-in-law Troy, both avid baseball fans, to see three games in two days.  Troy is a Dodgers fan so we will attend a mid-day game at the Dodgers’ home stadium at Camelback Ranch, about 16 miles from us.  That evening we will return to Surprise for a Giants vs. the Rangers game.  On Friday morning we will head across town to Scottsdale Stadium, home of the SF Giants.  Our plan is to watch batting practice, visit the Giants Dugout Store (we have an IOU to get a Giants jersey for Tanner), and hopefully, catch a foul ball or two!  For Christmas my family got me a glove and I hope it brings me luck!!!  For all three games I got tickets behind our Giants (or the Dodgers) dugout in a location where Tanner can get a ball at the end of the inning or snag an autograph or two. 

Tanner is experienced at getting autographs.  Here he is getting Hunter Pence’s autography in SF last year and the scene was caught on the live game broadcast I was recording!

Following the Giants game we will head back to Phoenix’s Sky Harbor Airport so the boys can fly back to San Jose. Tanner has a Little League game on Saturday and Dad is his coach.  He should have some stories to tell his teammates!

GETTING MY GOLF FIX

Most of you know that I love to play golf.  Not good, but love the game!  Since Luke doesn’t play golf, I am reluctant to go solo.  When I am near a Ladies Club I will seek out their schedule and in Happy Trails there are multiple groups I plan to play golf with while here.

Great Eagle Golf Club is the home course for the Happy Trails golf community.  Last Tuesday I played with the Lady Niners and on Thursday I played 18-holes with an informal group of ladies,  This coming Tuesday I will play with the HT Ladies 18-hole club golfers.  We are also adjacent to the Arizona Traditions Golf Club, owned by the same company that runs Great Eagle, so maybe I will get to play that course while we are here in Surprise.

Lady golfers are like Energizer bunnies… they keep going and going.  At home I have been “chasing” a 93-year old woman, Vada Boyer, who was my mentor when I first began playing golf in the late 1980s,  This week I played with Kay who was celebrating her 91st birthday and she kicked my butt!  She also bought a round of drinks for everyone after our round!

BIRTHDAY (?) SHOPPING

Hubby Luke is affectionately known as “Mr. Clean”.  I am not going to challenge his title, but if there are “tools” that will let him clean better, who am I to deny that wish.  

Next week is Luke’s birthday so this weekend he talked about wanting a better vacuum cleaner than the “stick” Dust Buster we have been using in the RV.  Picking up Star’s dog hair is his biggest challenge.  We did our research on ConsumersReport.org and read lots of reviews on Amazon.com.  After stopping by the local big box stores, Luke settled on the Shark Navigator Pro Lightweight Pet Hair Canister Vacuum Model UV300 on sale at Home Depot for just $105. It was listed for $174 on Amazon.com.  What a deal!  Happy Birthday, Luke!

NEXT: BASEBALL & MORE SURPRISE