We arrived in the West Valley in mid-October and began the transition from life on the road to living in a sticks ‘n bricks home. It took a solid week of shuffling “stuff” from one place to the other and involved more than one snafu. Some folks can do this sort of thing gracefully; we do not number among them. And by the time the coach was more or less empty, we could not believe how much “stuff” we had crammed into such a small space. Our little “Welcome To Cram-a-Lot Inn” sign is more than appropriate than we thought.
Finding furniture was the first order of business. We had ordered a bed prior to our departure last spring and it was waiting for our signal to be delivered. Of course we hadn’t taken into consideration that a mattress and box spring might also be a good idea. Having recently purchased a new mattress for the coach from J.C. Penney, we figured that the exact same mattress for the house would serve very nicely. You might know that it was not in stock and could not be delivered until the day after we were scheduled to put the coach into storage. Not to worry…when we arranged for the bed to be delivered, we had also purchased a sleep sofa for the guest bedroom so we would at least have a place to sleep once we vacated the coach completely.
One of us is a night owl and one of us isn’t so you can well imagine how thrilled we were to learn that the mattress had not been received on the expected date. Trying to sleep in the same room with the t.v. and the computer was nearly impossible. JCP could not tell us where the mattress was or when it would be delivered. And they weren’t all that interested in solving our problem so we cancelled the order, vowing to never darken their doorway again, and spent the better part of a day trying to find another mattress which was in stock and could be delivered sooner rather than later. We got lucky and found a better mattress for less money, it was in stock, no additional charge for delivery and it would be at our doorstep that very evening. We were so thrilled we purchased several other pieces of furniture just to make the salesman feel loved. And just that quick the Arizona Room (known as a California room in California and a Florida room in Florida…we don’t know what they’re called in Wisconsin) had all the basic components of a real room and lacked only the little things such as lamps and wall hangings to be complete.
The West Valley, being the site of a number of 55+ communities, lives and breathes the world of estate, rummage, garage and patio sales. Every intersection boasts a forest of signs pointing hither and yon directing the shopper to various meccas of used (and sometimes abused) household goods. We located several bookcases, including a pair that can double as a china cabinet, and various other pits and pieces to fill in the blanks in the house. Apparently there are protocols to estate and rummage sale shopping, such as discounted prices on the final day. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to pricing, either. Some items seem ridiculously high and others dirt cheap, quality or condition doesn’t appear to enter into the pricing strategy. Our proudest acquisition to date is a 7’ tall bookcase which we brought home in the Saturn (now referred to as “The Truck”).
As soon as we had more or less feathered the nest enough for comfort, we set about making ourselves part of the community. After all, we purchased here because of the wide variety of activities afforded to residents. One of the first orders of business was to get our library cards and within days I was attending a book discussion group. It turned out to be a bright, articulate and opinionated bunch and I’m looking forward to participating in future discussions. Finding the craft group that includes beading came next. Within hours I’d joined two different groups, each meeting at a different rec center but at the same times. It would be helpful to have a split personality….and my own car or golf cart. After his very first outing to lawn bowling, Howie came home proudly showing off a set of bowls he’d just purchased. How could he pass them up? They are decorated with little red Jaguars. He’s been going twice a day twice a week to get back into shape after an entire summer of not being able to bowl.
And, as a couple, we joined the RV group. As expected, they are the most out-going and gregarious of the groups we’ve met thus far. They have some caravans and rallies planned over the next few months but we’re unlikely to participate in anything except the day trips. Just the thought of loading things back into the coach this soon gives me a sick headache. Yesterday we attended the club’s potluck dinner. After the meal, a local celebrity named Mike Chamberlin entertained us with songs and stories. It was a pleasant, comfortable evening as are most times spent in the company of fellow RVers.
I’m looking forward to getting involved with the gardening club. Knowing next to nothing about things that grow in the desert, I want to get up to speed so we can tend our citrus grove properly. The grapefruit tree is loaded and the fruit is ripening quickly. The oranges are much further behind, being barely beyond bright green. The lemon tree, if that’s what it is, has no fruit at all. I’m pretty sure the discolored foliage on the rose bushes is not due to black spot. Maybe it’s sunburn, maybe something else. Whatever it is, it’s not attractive and needs to be corrected. But so far the only thing I know about xeriscaping is that you don’t pet the cactus. Just because some of them look soft and fuzzy, it doesn’t mean they are.
Perhaps you’ve noticed there are no photos in this posting. Maybe next time. Life on solid ground is different from life on wheels. To keep in practice for when we hit the road again, I’ve taken to stacking things awkwardly in the cupboards so they tumble out as soon as the door is opened. That way we won’t lose our instinct to keep one arm raised to ward off falling cans of pork and beans.
P.S. Did you know that household refrigerators do not beep if you leave the door open too long. And you can use the dryer, the microwave and the air conditioner all at the same time without popping a breaker. So many things to re-learn!
