Saturday, July 07, 2007

RAIN! Well....almost.

Mark it on the calendar! It rained in Casa Grande last night!! It was only a “trace” amount, not enough to register in the rain gauge….but it was RAIN. The first we’ve had in months and months. The street actually stayed wet for almost two full minutes.

Last night was the first “storm” of the summer season. It started with 112 degrees and very calm. We could see the sky turning yellow off in the distance so we knew DIRT was on the way. As predicted, we watched it descend upon us….always an awesome sight. After a lot of wind and sandblasting, came the rain. In 10 minutes or so, it was all gone and the only evidence of the rain was the caked dirt that covered EVERYTHING. Our patio is just thick with dirt so it’s time to spray it all down with the hose. At least it rinses off easily. I’ll still take this weather over a Wisconsin winter anytime! Arizona is awesome! I think it’s variety of weather, vegetation, scenery, etc. is just fascinating.

The new Promenade Mall is progressing rapidly. Some of the big store signs are now visible from the highway. Penneys and Dillards are already advertising for employees so they can get a head start on training. How will they ever find enough people to staff the stores??????????

Char and Terry Eicher now have a lovely hole in the ground where their new village home will soon perch. Char is soooo excited over her new home…which is due to arrive sometime this month. She and Terry go on shopping expeditions for new furniture and fixtures and are truly enjoying the adventure.

Dick and Caroline Stone are also close to closing on a new village home. Should have final details in the next week or two.

Rumor has it from the mail room that our park currently has around 230 active mailboxes. That’s the closest we can come when people ask…”How many people live here year around?” Folks still come and go from short mini trips or month long treks to go see family, but active mailboxes is a pretty sure count of how many crazies, like us, choose to stay here for the summer.

The following story is strictly swimming pool rumor so how much is fact….I can’t verify. I’ve heard that park rentals are booming and the resort does not have enough rental homes to satisfy the growing market. Again…rumor…Dennis Powell has sold 18 of his park models so those rentals are no longer available. The park “supposedly” is going to furnish six of the unsold village homes…or villa homes…and use them for rentals to entice another market to join Palm Creek. So far, most of our residents are past RVers, but there is a strong potential market for non-RVers to enter the village home group because of the larger size accommodations. Again…rumor says that all six of those rental homes are taken for at least three months this coming season. I have no way to verify any of this as fact so maybe I shouldn’t print it….but…it makes for fun reading, yes? Maybe some of it is true anyway. At any rate, I hope the park continues to do well.