Wednesday, January 4, 2012 (McDowell Mountain Regional Park, Fountain Hills, AZ)

I was up just after 6:30 this morning and watched as the sun rose to reveal clear blue skies...it was going to be another beautiful day.  We had our usual relaxing start to the day and then, because it was “exercise day”, half-heartedly pulled out our gear and got started.  Today, we both did the “full-meal deal”...whew...that was hard.  We were glad when that was over with for another two days!

After breakfast, Steve took these pictures of our campsite and the beautiful views we have.  
This is the view east from the left-hand side (table) trailer window...

And from the back window (north)...

And from the right-hand (east) window...

This is taken from the closest site to the east of us...

And this taken from the closest site to the west of us...

We really like this campground...it is only 8 minutes from Fountain Hills; and at $25/night, has 50 amp power and water hook-ups; but no sewer (sani-dump at the entrance)...we would give it a "10 out of 10" if it had sewer and was on a lake or river.  The desert floor in this area is very green...covered with wild grass...not what we expected.

The only thing on our agenda for today was to drive to Mesa and pick up the replacement light socket for the fireplace at RV Traders and then go across to Camping World and pick up our generator.  It was shortly before 11:00 by the time we were ready to head off...where did the morning go?!

On our way home, we stopped at Safeway in Fountain Hills to pick up a couple of things.  While I was wandering the isles, Steve stopped at the pharmacy to see if we could still get flu shots.  We had tried to get them while we were back home in Sidney but the Safeway pharmacy had run out of the vaccine...okay, I had left it to our last day and then didn’t have time to try other places.  So for $30 each, we figured we should get them here.  After getting flu shots faithfully for years (the fact that they were offered free at my workplace probably helped), we didn’t get them last year but with the warnings for a bad flu season, we thought we should get them this year.

After registering at the pharmacy and filling out all the paperwork, we were sitting in a room beside the pharmacy waiting for the pharmacist.  About 5 minutes later, he entered with all the paraphernalia...he gave Steve his shot first.  All the while I am sitting there waiting, I’m thinking...gee, I hope this is a good idea; we‘re not in BC...what happens if we have a bad reaction or something....??  Well, wouldn’t you know it...as soon as he gives me my shot, I get all dizzy and queasy!  The pharmacist seemed more concerned with the bruising and bleeding that was starting at the injection site on my arm but soon hurried off to get me a glass of water.  He returned with the water (in a prescription container) along with some papers in hand...listing all the warnings and precautions...do you have heart palpitations? Are you having trouble breathing? Etc...Etc...  After the water and a couple of crackers from our grocery buggy that Steve had gotten for me, I felt much better...thank goodness!   I think I gave the poor pharmacist a bit of a scare.  I have never had any type of reaction to a flu shot and I have certainly never ended up with a huge bruise on my arm!

We enjoyed about an hour of late afternoon sunshine before heading inside as the sun got low in the sky.  After dinner we went for a good power walk around the campground.  Although Steve was wearing his headband flashlight, we really didn’t need it...the moon was so bright.  We had been looking forward to some great stargazing being far away from the city lights...but unfortunately, the moon was just too bright!