Home Show...

 

A long ways from Steph and Dan's current residence, we went to the far northeast side of the Valley to go to the Home Show (in the Scottsdale area).  I had no idea if this would be a big deal - it was.  LOTS of people there at the WestWorld facility (you may have heard of that from the famous Barrett-Jackson Classic Car Auction televised annually).

Steph told us to wear "comfortable walking shoes"... good advice; I think we walked about a mile to get from parking to the entrance gate.  Big city - you have to go through a metal detector and empty your pockets to get in.  They don't want you coming into the facility with a gun or a knife... although there was two booths there selling CutCo Knives.  So, you can buy a knife once you are in, but you can't bring a knife in.  Steph had already cautioned us about this... I was planning on traveling "lite" with only a small gun and two knives, but I left those in the coach.  ;-)

Just outside the first huge tent-type building, Joan saw these fire pits that she thought were interesting...

 In case it isn't hot enough for you in the desert.  Fortunately, once inside, the facility was "pre-cooled," anticipating a big crowd and a warm day... it was downright chilly in there when we first went in.  We had some definite planned stops at some of the hundreds of vendors.  Joan had circled their locations on the 3 page map of the show.  Anything else would be serendipity.

One of our first stops was at a hot tub dealer.  We listened to his spiel - it was well rehearsed and informative.  This won't be our first hot tub, so we knew what to ask.  We were nearly sold, but decided to look around some more, to be sure.

Next stop: a place doing landscaping...

 Before we made it through the entire show, we had made appointments for a couple of these companies to come to the new house, look over the space available, make some suggestions for us, and give us a bid.  They all seemed to be booked a couple months out... we were hoping for sooner.

We happened by a "Garage Storage Solutions" place....

 Most houses here don't have basements - this will offer some out of the way storage for things we don't use frequently, but still want to have available (like Christmas decorations).  We scheduled an appointment time to have some of these installed.  We all liked the fact that the price included installation.

By this time, we were all feeling a bit hungry and thirsty - burgers, grilled cheese sandwiches, chips, and sodas for more than ballpark prices.  I was told, "Don't look at the price - just get what you want."  I looked.  Damn.

Back on the hunt, we came across a Tuff Shed booth.  We have plenty of room in our side yard, if something like this will be acceptable to the HOA...

 The salesman took my info and will be sending me a quote and more information on options.  These are nicely made, and they do the install.  We'll be submitting the specs to the HOA.

We looked at several more hot tub places - and found one we all agreed on...

 I really liked the way the lid mounted on this one, so it is easy to tilt back and seals tight when closed.  We put down a deposit and just have to let them know when we want it delivered (and that will depend on  the landscaping time frame, when we get to that point).

Steph and Dan talked to a couple different places regarding motorized shades for the 4 panel glass doors that open onto their patio.  We visited with a company that makes wood plantation shades for the door that will go out to our patio.  Steph found a booth selling some kind of energy drink that they like, and picked up a supply.  Steph confirmed an appointment with the people who will be installing our water softener/filtration system.

We looked at other stuff, but these were the high-points for us.

When we left the Home Show, we stopped at another home development that has the same floorplan as ours - Joan wanted to measure some spaces with furniture in mind.  We picked a color for some contrast walls in our side of the house (Steph and Dan already have those painters scheduled).

Back to their house to let Blaine (the guide dog in training) out for a potty walk, then out for supper.  It turned out to be supper and "a show" when I knocked a large soda onto my lap.  Yep, that was a cold blast, and not in a refreshing kinda way.

When we got back to the motorhome, I took Rufus for a walk before dark, then went to the pool and hot tub area (indoors) here at the RV park.  A bit over-chlorinated for my tastes - I am looking forward to having our own again.  That said, it helped with my tired feet, legs, and back.

A very productive day.