Casa Grande

Friday - 9 January 2004 - Casa Grande, Arizona: We spent a few days in Tucson and now have been in Casa Grande, Arizona for two nights. Today we golfed at the Grande Valley Golf Club. DT had played the course last year while we were camped at nearby Picacho Peak and said I would enjoy it. (He is such a liar.) The club had hosted a tournament earlier in the day, so there was a shot-gun at 1:15. We were teamed with a very friendly Canadian couple, Ann and Gary and their friend, also Gary - so we were a five-some. It was a pretty course, even though a few holes ran along-side of I-10. Ann and Gary were both retired. Gary was a college basketball coach in Calgary and Ann was a P.E. teacher in Calgary. They now spend the winters in Casa Grande and the summers in British Columbia. They were very nice and Ann wrote down the names of about 10 restaurants - including driving directions from our campground - on a grocery receipt found at the bottom of her handbag! They knew the best places, the cheapest places, the most expensive places and ranked each restaurant. It seems on Fridays the "thing" in Casa Grande is a fish fry. The idea of dining on "fresh fish" in the middle of the desert did not appeal to us, so after our golf game, we headed into Casa Grande for Mexican food.

Picacho Peak from Grande Valley Golf Club

The Mexican restaurant Ann suggested, Manuel's, was simply wonderful. Lots of atmosphere and friendly staff and clientele. The place was packed and we had to wait at the 5-seat bar. No worries - it was two-for-one margarita night! The girl I chatted-up at the bar said Lupe was the best bartender at Manuel's and anything that came out of the kitchen would be fabulous. How could we go wrong? Well, we couldn't. The food was really, really good - basic Mexican, yet very fresh tasting and not oily. The Lupe-made margaritas were delicious and strong! When the check came, I asked DT the price of the two-for-one margaritas and he said they were $6.29. I thought that was a good price - because they were very good margaritas and he said they were $6.29 for our FOUR margaritas!

Something tells me we are not in Kansas anymore.

RV Park: Palm Creek RV Resort - Note: this is a 55+ park. We didn't know, but they let us stay for a few days even though we were a few years shy. I think it was because we didn't have kids with us and they weren't very full.