Dinner At Gordy And Jackie’s

Friday February 26, 2010

What a fun night, Ken, Lee Ann, Mike and I went to Gordy and Jackie’s last night for dinner.  Jim and Hope, friends of Gordy and Jackie for 50 years were also there.  Jim is much older then the rest of us, and a trouble maker all night. 

Gordy grilled a pork roast, fresh pineapple, and sweet potatoes thinly sliced for dinner.  I had never had grilled sweet potatoes, but you can bet I will be making them soon.  We also had baked beans that were awesome.  Hope made a salad that was very good.  For dessert we had pineapple and blueberry pie.  We all ate until we were stuffed.

After dinner the beverage of choice was Crown Royal, the guys seemed to   enjoy an abundance of the whiskey.  Stories were told by everyone, not sure if all of them were true, but we did laugh.  My cheeks hurt so bad from laughing. 

 

As you can see the Crown Royal didn’t keep Ken to warm.  When the sun goes down the desert does get chilly.  We partied until after midnight which most of you know is really late for me, but we were having so much fun. 

Things are getting done in the MH and it is feeling more like home everyday.  The cats have not learned how to open the door yet, but they still manage to sneak out if we leave the door open a little. 

 

Still In Apache Junction

Okay how many time have I said we were just about ready to leave here and head to Yuma, to many for me to count.  Well we will be here a while longer, we took the MH in for a few tweaks yesterday, seems they have to order some parts and they will not be in until next week.  I also had to leave my microwave convection oven there to be repaired.  Does that mean no cooking. 

While they were working on the MH Mike and I went to a movie.  We saw Valentines Day.  Very funny we enjoyed it.  Picked the MH up about 4:00 just in time for rush hour traffic.  The repair shop is in Mesa about 20 miles from the park. 

Wednesday afternoon friends Steve and Sandy Allgire  came for a visit to check out the new MH and play Mexican Train.  They are staying in the Peoria area and are also going to the rally in Yuma.  We may be traveling together. 

 

They brought their dog, Yoda, to play with the Stormy and TT.  Guess how that went, actually they got along pretty good.

Mike made chicken on the grill for dinner and we continued to play Mexican Train into the evening. It was another great visit with friends.

I will not say when we are leaving, I will just make a post when we arrive.

Have I mentioned how warm and sunny it is here.  Just for all our friends and relatives in MN.

Catching Up On The Blog

I did get behind a little on my blog so I will do some catch up in this one.  It will be mostly posting some pictures of friends.

Gordy and Jackie Big Balsam Camp are staying in the area so we had to get together.  If you are following our blog Big Balsam lake is where we have been spending our summers as camp hosts. 

Happy hour before Mike grills the burgers for dinner.

 

Another happy hour and dinner.

By now you must be thinking is that all we do is eat and drink, well that’s pretty much it.  We love spending time with friends and I really enjoy cooking, although we have been eating out a lot.  That may come to an end now with the new MH and payments. 

We have been having a great time here in Apache Junction, but it’s time to move on.  The MH goes in Thursday for some minor problems and then we will head out.

Organ Stop Pizza Mesa AZ

The Beginning of February about 16 of us went to Organ Stop Pizza   If you have never been their it is an experience.  Never go on a weekend, you will wait in line to order pizza, wait in another line to order your beverage and then wait in line some more to get a table.  We had to split our group up to get seated.  No one seats you, just grab an empty stop when one opens up. 

If you want to have a nice conversation over dinner, this is not the place to go.  If you are looking for quality pizza, this is not the place to go.  If you are looking for a place with some very unique entertainment to accompany some not so great pizza than this is the place to go.  I love the entertainment.

The restaurant is built around the largest Wurlitzer theater pipe organ in the world (6000 pipes).  The organ controls violins, drums, horns, xylophones, and many other special effects hanging on the walls of the restaurant.  The music is a lot of fun.  The organist plays movie scores, TV theme songs, Broadway hits, patriotic songs and even takes requests. 

We sat in the balcony above the organ, and had a very nice view.  Lee Ann and Kens friend Karen from Minnesota came to visit for a week.  Got a picture of her taking a picture of me. 

 

 

Dinner With Friends At Giuseppe’s Phoenix AZ

Last night we went to Giuseppe’s with Jim and Bobby Chapman.  Giuseppe's is another Diners, Drive-in and Dives.  It’s a small restaurant with only a dozen tables located in a strip mall in Phoenix.

Mike really likes his Italian food.  We spent a month in Italy a few years ago and fell in love with the cuisine.  I even  learned to cook a few Italian dishes myself, very simple ones. 

Mikes Veal Osso Boco, and it tasted even better then it looks.  All our meals were fabulous. 

 

The owner chef Richard Bock made his rounds and stopped at the tables to visit with the diners.

Richard studied cooking in Italy for 9 years while performing a Principal Cellist in Maggio Musicale Florentino Orchestra.  Maggio Musicale is the most famous theater in Italy.  He now plays with the Phoenix Symphony and has been the Principal Cellist for 24 seasons. 

A few weeks ago we stopped in for lunch with Ken and Lee Ann.  Giuseppe’s is one of the friendliest places we have eaten.  Everyone wants to make you fell comfortable, and as said before the food is outstanding.  

Things Are Getting Better

We are finally getting organized in the new MH.  What a job this has been.  Mike has many items that still have to wired in.  I think he’s waiting to meet up with friend Charles to help him out.

We now have a working TV.  The the MH came with a King Dome on the roof for our direct TV, no more setting up the tripod and dish.  Now we just hit a button and the King Dome locks onto a satellite. 

We had a nice surprise last night.  Friends, Jim and Bobbie Chapman stopped by to check out the new MH and have dinner with us. They left Laughlin and headed to our area to look at a new 5th wheel.  They will be here only a couple of days. I think it has been about a year the last time we ran into them. 

After dinner we stopped at the club house for cake and ice cream.  They had my favorite carrot cake, Mike had the chocolate.  He does not believe you should put vegetables in desserts.  We all had a great time catching up on our lives and travels.

We Did It!!!

Bought a new to us MH.  2005 Monaco La Palma 37 foot, 3 slides and more space then we ever dreamed of having. 

We picked it up on Wednesday and are still getting things organized.  Ken, Lee Ann, Gordy and Jackie helped us on moving day.  I didn’t think our 32 footer held so much stuff, was I surprised.

The MH with the slides in.

The MH with the slides out.  Mike and Ken are doing all the wiring for the brake system to tow the truck and hooking up the pressure pro system and a ton of other stuff.

The inside with the slides in.

Slides out. Kitchen and dinning area.

The refrigerator is huge, I couldn’t believe it is bigger then the one we had in our house.

The bedroom area with the bed in the right side of the picture, you can only see the very edge of the bed. 

We are still in Apache Junction until Mike gets everything hooked up and then onto Yuma, where we will be attending the Gypsy Journal Rally in March.  Hopefully hooking up with Steve and Sandy and Charles and Nancy.   

 

Monday’s Appointment

Monday’s doctor appointment went pretty good.  I have some liver damage but nothing significant.  They are not sure what caused the damage.  I have to go back in April to have the tests rerun and see if the numbers have gone up or down.  We are happy with the results. 

Mike and I want to thank everyone for all their well wishes and prayers.

Happy Hour At The Bubar’s

The park we are staying at had another dinner and dance Saturday night.  Mike and I hosted happy hour before.  Mike made his famous French onion soup and as usual was fantastic.  We had friends from Canada, South Dakota and Minnesota at the party.

Just before the party Mike washed his little ford ranger truck and it grew into a big Ford truck.  The Harley Davidson edition, it belongs to Ken’s cousin Carol from SD.  It is a beautiful piece of machinery.   Not sure if the MH could tow this truck.

  

After Happy hour we all went to the club house for hamburgers potato salad and beans, another very good meal.  The band plays from 7 to 10 and everyone dances.  There had to be close to 200 people at this event.

On Monday I had another doctor appointment, more blood work and a ultra sound on my kidneys, liver, gallbladder and spleen.  I will find out the results next Monday the 8th.

Tuesday was another party this time a Birthday party for Ken’s cousins wife Jolene.  They also rented a house here for part of the winter.  They have to head back to the cold later this month. 

Jolene did all the cooking for her party.  We had turkey and all the fixings, I love turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy, one of my favs.  Lee Ann picked up a birthday cake a red velvet ice cream cake from Coldstone ice cream, boy was it elegant and rich. 

Everything in this house is original from the 50s and 60s. The kitchen and bathroom are just awesome, you would think you were in the era.  Everything on the walls and the furniture are from the same time period.

We have visited the Mesa flea market been out to lunch a few more times and just having fun.  I think I’m caught up on our life here in Apache Junction. 

More Fun In Apache Junction

We watched the Vikings play their last game of the season.  Would have been nice to see them go to the Supper Bowl, maybe next year.  

The party was at Lee Ann’s sister and brother-in-laws place, Kathy and Rob.  They rented a house in AZ for the winter.  Ken again with the women, how he manages that everywhere we go I'm not sure.  He does seem to be having fun.

On Wednesday we took a trip to an Olive Mill. I forgot my camera but Lee Ann had her phone and took some pictures.  The place was pretty amazing, didn’t know they grew olives in AZ. 

We were able to sample the olives stuffed with everything from garlic to cheese.  They must make 20 different verities.  More olive oil flavors then you can imagine.  Of course we wanted to keep the economy going so we bought a few items.  Actually more then a few, they also had fresh baked breads, cakes, and cupcakes.  We bought a loaf of bread and olive oil blood orange cupcakes that were to die for.