Florence, AZ - March 5 - May 18, 2010
Our last entry documented our arrival at Desert Garden RV Park south of Florence, Arizona after a grueling seven-day drive from Cudjoe Key, Florida. The next day, after picking up our keys at the Sun City Anthem sales office, we opened the door to our new home for the first time. Mumbling something about weight and an aging back, Bill refused to carry Susan over the threshold.
We were very excited and thrilled with our selections of tile, granite, carpet, cabinetry, etc. But the walls were glaringly white with the desert sun streaming unimpeded through the windows. Something had to be done about that.
In two weeks Susan was scheduled to fly to Sacramento for her annual 'Usual Suspects Adventure', so we immediately got to work transforming our house into a home. In fact, we had started the process before arriving in Arizona. Since we had absolutely nothing with which to outfit the house we ordered several items while on the road west. Boxes started arriving just hours after we walked through the door, and we, were soon on a first name basis with the UPS delivery dude.
The following week we met with Debbie Darling, an interior decorator, to advise us on paint colors and craftsmen. In one day we selected colors and contracted with Robert the painter, ordered window shutters throughout the house and five ceiling fans from Elite Blinds and Shutters. That night we celebrated with George and Claudia.
That same week we met with Mike, the proprietor of Arizona Landscapes, to sketch out our ideas for a front walled courtyard with a water feature and a back patio with a firepit and seating area, and selected paving material and a plant theme. Mike came back with an estimate and plans and we were on way to realizing our landscape vision - pending approval by the review board.
During those two weeks we also arranged to have gutters installed on all the eaves and to have the tile, marble, grout and granite sealed. Bill organized the TV satellite dish installation and established our cable, communications and security systems, and we contracted for cabinets in the laundry room and sliding drawers in the kitchen and bathroom cabinets.
Bill planned to move into the house before Susan returned on April 7th so we decided furniture would be a welcomed addition to the echoing rooms. We had ordered a bedroom set while on the road which was scheduled for delivery in early April, but we needed a mattress. So we were off to a store Bill had located in Phoenix to make a very sweet deal on mattresses for both the master and guest bedrooms. We then hit the furniture stores in search of a guest bedroom set which we found at Ashley Furniture in Casa Grande. We agreed that making a decision on living and dining room furniture was just too important to rush, so decided to buy a patio set to temporarily address our dining, computing and lounging needs.
Our first two weeks in Florence wasn't all work and no play. We attended Del Webb's colorful 50th Anniversary Luau at the Union Center, sat in for Debbie and her husband at the monthly Trivial Pursuit Game and were totally put to shame by the energetic dancers at the St. Patrick's Day celebration.
We also made time to visit with Susan and Lynn in Mesa, our friends from Thunder Bay, Ontario, and with Roy and Marcia in Tucson, our friends from Carson City. And we thankfully enjoyed several evenings relaxing with George and Claudia in their backyard.
On March 24th Susan escaped all this whirlwind of activity and flew to Sacramento. After spending several days with Claire laughing, dining, taking care of tasks and catching a cold, Susan joined the Usual Suspects in Bodega Bay.
It was absolutely beautiful on the coast. The days were warm and sunny, the hills covered in wildflowers and the blue Pacific sparkled. The six Usual Suspects have been escaping to Bodega Bay for about 20 years and the event becomes more precious every year.
The day Susan was scheduled to access the storage pod in preparation for its shipment to Florence was dark and windy with torrential rainfall. What should have been a fairly easy process turned out to be an infuriating challenge. Door-to-Door had not notified us that the storage facility had moved (once AGAIN!!) from West Sacramento to north Sacramento. Since Susan's contacts were in Seattle and had no knowledge of the Sacramento area, locating the facility was not easy. Once found co-located with United Van Lines, the United people wouldn't let her pull into the warehouse to organize the pod. Consequently, she spent the afternoon fighting the rain and wind while trying to minimize damage to art and electronics. Claire, thank you for the use of your car and for not scolding me when I dripped water all over your hardwood floors.
While Susan was in California Bill was very busy taking care of business, making appointments for work to be done on the house, over-seeing craftspeople, organizing the house and meeting the neighbors. He also started playing Pickle Ball. For those not familiar with the sport, Pickle Ball is a cross between tennis and badminton, and is very popular in Arizona among folks of a certain age. It really is great fun and good exercise.
A few days after Susan returned on April 7th, our 5' x 7' x 10' storage pod arrived with all our treasures we had stored for nearly six years. Amazingly, nothing was broken.
During the following month we watched our bare land become a desert garden, our white walls develop color, and the rooms slowly take shape. By the time we left in mid-May, two bedrooms and a dining room were nearly completed, and a sofa had replaced the uncomfortable patio chairs. We were quite proud and impressed with all we had accomplished in two months.
By mid-May the temperature was rising and we were getting eager to hit the road. We planned to rendezvous with Henry and Mary in Santa Barbara County and then move north to Sacramento to visit friends and family. Beyond that we had a vague idea of spending the hot months somewhere in the Northwest. On May 18th the Beast was packed and ready to make tracks to Santa Barbara - on the morning of the 19th our plans changed.
