Our Lifestyle Adventures: Taking a Break from Writing III

the Washington/Oregon/Idaho Potluck Dinner at midseason in Viewpoint

the Newly Wed Game that we won!

I am really not taking a break from writing all the time. Actually, I work on revising about two chapters a week from the Round 1 comments of my editor. I am just choosing to talk about my break time activities. This post is about the tennis socials, the trip we made to Tubac, the dinner party and house hunting.

our jolly emcee!

On Feb. 10, as a pre-Valentines activity, we joined the newbie tennis group (1.5ers) at an Evening Social. We had pizza and root beer floats. Little did we know that we would be competing in a Newly Wed Game with 3 other couples who were 50+, 40+, and 30+ years married. The game was heavily rigged in favor of us. Had we not won, it would have been a shame.

But, we won, getting 7 out of the possible 10. Questions were asked to test if each couple really knew each other! These are what we didn’t get: how long we dated before we got engaged, when we had our first real kiss, and whose wedding we attended last. This last one Bill got and I didn’t! But the first were dependent on the interpretation of date and kiss! Our prizes were sparkling wine, a box of chocolates and various implements for better love-making! Such fun!

the vacation home of the Beckers

On Feb. 13, we took a trip to Tubac, Arizona. We had been there before (please see http://rvcruisinglifestyle.blogspot.com/2012/12/ola-looking-for-base-in-arizona-tucson.html). 

But, this time Oliver Becker, Bill’s brother from the Sigma Chi Fraternity at Pittsburg State University, was vacationing with his wife Kris at the lovely town. Tubac, about 50 miles south of Tucson and 150 miles south of Phoenix, is a nice little town with the first Mission of Anza and a town center made up of craft shops and fine restaurants.

Valentine's Eve dinner at Elvira's in Tubac, Arizona

They rented a neatly laid out VRBO home for a week.  After a light lunch of salad and grilled chicken, Bill and Oliver played golf while Kris and I shopped. That evening we had our pre-Valentines dinner at Elvira’s, the town’s top fine dining Mexican restaurant bedecked with thousands of colorful lights. Bill ordered our favorite flank steak mocaljete that we discovered in December 2012, Mexican beef stewed with cactus and served on a volcanic pot that keeps it simmering while one dined.

@ the Sculpture Garden

Valentine's Day Lunch at Wisdom's

The next day took an easy hike to the town’s Boar’s Head Bakery for breakfast. Going back, we passed through the Sculpture Garden which had many beautiful, but pricey, sculptures for desert homes. Then we met their other fraternity brother Jim Harris and wife Glenda together with their friends Gary and Mary for lunch at Wisdom’s near Mission Tucumcacori. They were also vacationing twenty minutes north in Green Valley.  After they left, we shopped some more at Tubac’s Tucumcookery and the Santa Cruz spices’ shop near the Mission. Back at the vacation home, we had cheese, ham, crackers, and bread for a light dinner before we headed back to Phoenix.

the fraternity brothers and their wives

Santa Cruz, the Spice Shop

Last night, we had the opportunity to participate in the Washington/Oregon/Idaho dinner. At the height of the season, snow birders from different states in the US or provinces in Canada get together in a party. I brought chef salad to contribute to the potluck. Most came from Washington and, of course, we hooted for the Seattle SeaHawks! But our friends from across our RV Kenny and Sharon were hosting a street party and we joined them after dinner for a cool chat around a campfire.

the Washington/Oregon/Idaho potluck dinner

the entrance at Leisure World

But the activity that is starting to fill our time is house hunting. First, we looked around Viewpoint and its park models and manufactured homes, both old and brand new, for $20,000 to $130,000. However, the high site rentals of $600-700/month led us to look at other Resorts. We found five Thesman Communities which do not have sites for RVs with 200 to 800 manufactured homes per village from ranging from$40,000 to $150,000 clustered around clubhouse complexes. But alas, they also had site rentals of $550-650/month.

tennis patio homes at Leisure World

We decided that we preferred to buy a traditional house and lot but also within a gated 55+ community. 

So when we accidentally came across Leisure World, we were wide-eyed about the possible new lifestyle! With 2,600 houses and lots around two 18-hole golf courses, two areas with tennis courts, and two clubhouse complexes in 19 acres of gated land, homes ranged from $100,000 to 500,000 with HOA dues that range from $239 to 431 a month. We have done two afternoons of home viewings there.

the blue house at Barrio de Tubac

I also so loved the vacation home of the Beckers so much that Kris and I looked at a few homes for sale at Barrio de Tubac. The next day I showed Bill a blue patio home and a yellow single dwelling.  But, he felt Tubac, though very pretty and with lots of interesting festivals throughout the year, is too remote. He says we should make sure we have surveyed the Phoenix Metropolitan area very thoroughly before we decide! Anyway, even if this takes a year, home hunting is always fun, especially for the wife!