Casa Grande, AZ: Cancer Awareness Combined with Bicycles, Water Volleyball, Pickleball, Hot Tub & Cracker Barrel

What a day! Mary Lynn and I rode our bicycles around the park first thing this morning and ended up at the main pool, where we watched the water volleyball league for a little while. Watching someone else play water volleyball is like watching paint dry; no fun at all. So we biked the long way back to the RV.

On the way MLA passes me, a huge grin on her face, yelling "It's a race". Heck yeah I thought and, as I applied a little leg muscle to the pedals, I yelled "OK, It's a race to the stop sign" which was about a quarter mile away. MLA says "Nope, the race is already over. You lost and you are buying me lunch". That lady does not play fair...

I wanted the fish tacos being served on the patio however MLA is not a fish fan. So, since I lost the race, MLA had her choice of restaurants. So we ended up at a local BBQ joint for lunch. A couple of pulled pork sandwiches later we returned to the the park, just in time for me to play water volleyball. I tried to get MLA to play water volleyball however she's deep in yet another book so she stayed at the RV.

I played from water volleyball from 2 pm to 4 pm, jumped on the bike and headed home to change out of the wet clothes and put on some sneakers. Then I met MLA at the pickle ball court, where we played pickle ball from 4 to 6 pm.

This was the first time we played pickle ball and boy, did we have a great time. However, after 2 hours of instruction and playing, both of us were dragging butt. When we got back to the RV we were so tired I was afraid we would 'freeze up', that is, all of our joints would refuse to move. My legs were screaming what with all the biking, volleyball, and pickle ball.

So we implemented an emergency plan; we biked over to the hot tub and proceeded to soak our bodies until we could move without too much pain. We then biked back to the RV and, before all of our joints locked up again, we went to dinner at the Cracker Barrel. MLA's been in the mood for one of their BLT salads and I usually get the grilled catfish. Mmmmm, delicious.

The RV Park is helping raise awareness and money for cancer research, and as a part of that process, the park residents installed luminarios throughout the main roads in the park. For those of you who don't know, luminarios are basically a paper bag, filled about a third full with sand, and then a small candle is placed in the bag. When these are lit at night the effect is beautiful. In this case many of the bags were dedicated and decorated to loved ones who are victims or survivors of cancer. Really touching to see the many, many comments and decorations on the luminarios.

My grandfather passed away from cancer when he was only 63 and MLA's dad passed away from cancer when he was only 67. That used to seem old to me however now I recognize that's barely past middle age. All of us deserve to live much longer than that.

Some people say cancer can be eliminated in our children's lifetime if the necessary money and research happen. Perhaps with our help, cancer can be eliminated in our lifetime.

So if you haven't done anything to help in the battle against cancer lately, maybe you can reach out and help eliminate some of the pain & suffering that this disease continues to impose on cancer victims and their families.

See Ya!