The past two days have been pretty low-key for me. Donna, on the other hand, was up early on Thursday and spoke to a gathering of a few hundred residents here at the Orangewood Shadows RV Resort about maximizing storage in a small space.  She’s kept herself busy doing final prep to re-release an update of her book How to Declutter and Make Money Now.

I read outside for a while on Wednesday. Donna managed to tear herself away from her laptop and went out for a bike ride. I rode the scooter over to the Apache Wells RV Resort, where we stayed last year. I was looking for our former neighbor, George, from Wisconsin. I found his rig in the same space as last year, but he wasn’t home. I left a card on the windshield of his Jeep. I hope we can connect again soon. While I was at Apache Wells, I helped myself to some of the citrus fruit they put out (I made a small donation). I brought home grapefruit, oranges and lemons.

Wednesday evening Donna made Asian-inspired baked chicken thighs. It was a tasty dish.

Baked chicken thighs with organic baby spinach

Thursday was more of the same. I finished reading North to the Night by Alvah Simon. It’s a gripping tale of an incredible voyage to the Arctic Circle that Alvah and his wife, Diana, made aboard their 36′ sailboat. The winter was spent trapped in ice with months of extreme cold and darkness. Alvah bares his soul in his account of that winter. I don’t think I could ever write that honestly and expose all my fears, darkest thoughts and inner feelings. He doesn’t pull any punches.

Pat from Sun Dancer Shades stopped by at 2pm. We had an appointment for him to measure our windshield and front side windows. He made a pattern and will use it to create custom shades for our coach. The material he uses is a heavy-duty shade cloth that will block 90% of the UV from sunlight. This will keep the coach cooler and protect the interior. The shades allow you to see out in the daytime, but you can’t see in from the outside. I opted to have the shades mounted with twist locks on the coach, rather than with snaps. Most people go for snaps – I think they like the low profile. The twist locks look more utilitarian. I like the twist locks because they’re secure and you don’t have to tug at snaps every time you remove the shades. He’ll come back in a couple of weeks to install the twist locks on the coach and mount the shades.

After Pat left, I scootered over to Lucky Lou’s and had a cold one with the guys. There was a couple there, Mike and Kim, that  Donna and I met there last year. They were interested in hearing about full-timing. They bought a 1-ton Dodge Ram 3500 and are planning to hit the road with a fifth- wheel trailer as soon as they sell their house here in Mesa. We talked for a while before I headed back home.

Donna prepared another new recipe for dinner. She made Thai pork and squash soup. It was made with ground pork, cubed butternut squash, red curry paste, and fresh ginger and coconut milk and topped with fresh basil and jalapeno. It was a hearty soup and quite filling. Donna said she wished she had made it spicier, but I thought it was just right.

Thai pork and butternut squash soup

The weather has been warm and sunny with light winds of less than 8 mph. Today should be more of the same with the temperature reaching the low 80s. Donna and I have a pickleball lesson scheduled at 1pm. We got rained out last week!