Arizona winter

It goes without saying that I've done a poor job keeping my blog up this winter. My excuse, are people interested in travelers that stay in one location for 5 months? But it has been a busy stay in our  Mesa location. With a lapidary and silver smith shop housing all the tools a rock hound and jewelry person could want, I turned out several finished pieces and have several in the works. And this years weather has been amazing! The pools and hot tubs have had a workout and the park has had some amazing entertainment! The latest trend seems to be tribute bands, the favorite to date, a band named "One of these nights" and yes, an Eagles tribute band that was spot on. Tomorrow night it's a Frankie Valli tribute. Just a few weeks before we start our slow trip home.

Time to stop and smell the roses

Caring for the 204 rose bushes on the west end of Mesa Regal is truly a labor of love. It's not often you have a job where you can actually stop and smell the roses!

Old is new again

I've been busy in both the lapidary and silver smithing shops. The shell neckless was made from shells we collected last winter in Florida. They had a certain smell that took some work to eliminate but I'm happy with the results. The second piece is a stone found in Yuma, shaped in Mesa Regal two years back by Gary and the design is a collection of material that my mother (also a jeweler) had collected while I was in high school. It includes half of a Boy Scout neck tie scarf holder. I learned the craft in my junior and senior year in high school. After seeing my efforts, my mother was excited to learn as well. She took a class at the local community college, and collected many of the materials needed to make jewelry. I have enough to keep me busy for a long time between her materials and my stuff. The last piece was done by my mother, I just finished and polished it. 

Keeping busy in AZ

Two of the amenities included in our stay at Mesa Regal are the lapidary and silver smithing shops. The heart is crafted from a stone Gary and I found hiking the desert, cut, shaped, polished and drilled this fall. The stone is jasper and the chain was my mothers. I have three other pieces in the works that I should be able to show in the next few weeks. In between the yoga classes and swimming. I'll get there.

Mesa Regal, home for the winter

This year Gary and I decided to try something new, call one location home base for the winter. Mesa Regal is that place and it's not our first time here. I have a good friend from high school that purchased a park model here and after a short visit, we booked a site for a month two winters back. Why Mesa Regal? It's in the heart of Mesa AZ, a suburb of Phoenix, it's the largest RV resort in the area and after some persistence, we locked up a spot in the communities workcamper program. Yes we are working, two days a week and you'll never guess what we are doing...taking care of the roses!!! We are not getting a pay check however, our hours/profits go toward the cost of our site, all the services and all the amenities this park has to offer. And there are many, in fact they have a saying that if you have nothing to do, its your own fault. I've already signed up for the lapidary shop, silver smithing and will also sign up for the wood shop. There is a well equipped quilting studio, stain glass facility and art room. If you eat too much or drink more than usual, there are several workout programs from yoga, to water aerobics, to a full fitness center with free classes every day to get you back in shape. I've been doing palates and yoga.

Mesa Regal has two areas with pools and hot tubs hosting activities all day, with happy hour from 3-5, a grill that serves up burgers, nachos and other nibblys for the residents to enjoy. There's a band that plays during happy hour and with a large event room, the resort has scheduled programs with name artists like LeAnn Rimes, Gladys Knight and Lovin Spoonful. When we were hear a few years back we missed Gordon Lightfoot by a day :-( They also have dinners for special days, Thanks Giving, Christmas and New Years.

We do have a plan to take day trips. Local hiking is fantastic and we hope to see Gary's relatives in the Tucson area. So the blog will have some unique content this year, stay tuned!