Tucson, Arizona - December 2018

I arrived in Tucson as originally scheduled on Wednesday, December 5th, in the afternoon. I was able to get an emergency appointment at an RV service place I had used previously. It turned out that there was a fault in the main electrical cord I use to connect the trailer to the park power supply. Somewhat surprisingly its replacement was covered by my extended warranty, less the $100 deductible, saving me around $275.00. I was happy to have this resolved before I arrived at Tucson Meadows, the park I had stayed in the previous two winters and was scheduled into the following day for a stay of about 4 1/2 months. 

That night I parked outside of John's place and stayed with him in his apartment. I did this because part of the reason I arrived when I did was the following morning there was a seminar about the new rules of golf prior to regular Thursday Ladies' league play. I was interested in attending because I had heard and read about the major rules overhaul and wanted to be as well informed and up to date as possible prior to the rules going into effect on January 1st. I was able to park the trailer in the golf course parking lot while I attended the seminar and played the round. Following that I was able to check into the park and get settled on my site. Everyone I encountered at the park were happy to see me back. It is a great community.

On the first Saturday and Sunday I was in Tucson, I had committed to playing in the Tucson City Women's Amateur Golf Championship, which was being held at the same time as the Tucson Senior Men's Championship (John wasn't willing to take time off work to play in it.) We were to play 18 holes each day. One day on each of the two courses at Randolph Park. I wasn't sure I was really ready to play in the event because I hadn't played for a while and only had a few chances to practice in the last month or so, but it only happens once a year, so I figured I'd do it and not worry too much about the outcome. The women's field was not very big. Partially because the ladies I usually play with on Thursdays and those that play at the other course on Tuesdays weren't interested. I think it may be partially because the Quihuis families two daughters have won it the last few years. The older one has turned pro so only the younger one, Alexandra, a high school senior was playing. There were a few other ladies in the field. Despite my rustiness, I finished 2nd in Gross and 1st in Net! 

Official Hand Written Scoreboard

I won a gift card that was greater in value than my entry fee, so I was very happy. I though the results would have been written up in the local newspaper, but they weren't. 

The following Saturday I attended synagogue in the morning and at night was the Christmas Party for John's work. Unfortunately the restaurant was not well prepared for hosting a couple of large parties they had booked well in advance on the same night. They ran out of several menu items, which would have been previously frozen, so why couldn't they have ordered more? The orders weren't coming out of the kitchen in the correct sequence, ie. entrees before appetizers. All they were pretty good at was taking drink orders and bringing them. We tried to have a good time, but it was kind of hard and disappointing. I heard afterwards that they removed all the food from our bill, which is some consolation. Then when we were trying to do our white elephant gift exchange a band started playing rather loudly in the same room we were in, which made it hard to follow what was going on with our game. Once the game was done, some of us actually enjoyed the band and did some dancing!

John dancing with his boss Cindy McGuire.

For John's birthday on December 20th we got together with his daughters and grand-kids at Old Chicago for dinner. The staff took good care of us as we are somewhat regulars there. We would have gone back to the same place we went for John's birthday last year because it is closer to his work, but it had closed.

I pretty seamlessly slipped into my regular Tucson schedule, which I developed the previous winters;
Saturday: Drive John to work, go to Synagogue, do something for a few hours, pick John up from work, his weekend begins. Stay over at my place. 
Sunday: Spend time with John and his friends and family including a round of golf most Sundays. Stay over at my place. 
Monday: Spend time with John including a round of golf most Mondays, except one a month when I play in the Tucson City women's golf league. Sometimes play Euchre at the park in the evening.
Tuesday: Laundry and other chores. Maybe play golf or go for a bike ride. Sometimes play Mah Jongg at the library in the afternoon. Sometimes play Bingo at the park in the evening.
Wednesday: Pitch Horseshoes in the morning and play Mah Jongg at the Catholic Church in the afternoon, pick up John from work and stay at his place. 
Thursday: Play in Randolph Ladies league in the morning. 
Friday:Pitch Horseshoes in the morning and have lunch and play Mah Jongg at Risky Business in the afternoon, pick up John from work, stay over at my place.  
Repeat!

I love being somewhere I can golf on Christmas Day! Who needs a white Christmas? I prefer green. John and I played at Randolph. 

Friday December 28th we ran into our friends and occasional golf partners Lisa and Victor Aguilar at The Wooden Nickle. (Every time I say the name of this place I think of my father who would warn me about accepting any wooden nickles.)

Victor, John, me, Lisa.

     
For New Years Eve we attended the party in the park. It's bring your own drinks and some snacks to share pot luck style. Unfortunately, the band wasn't as good as the previous year and they added several silly impersonator karaoke numbers by selected residents, who weren't chosen for their singing voices. We went home early and rang in the New Year on our own. 

New Years day I watched the Rose Bowl Parade on television and then we went to play golf.