#382 Verde Ranch RV , Camp Verde Az.

We needed a place for India and Bert to stay for 10 days while I’m away in Wilmington to trim out the electrical on Savannah’s house. We had finished our trek across the US starting in North Carolina and ending in Flagstaff.

I looked around for some places that had full hookups and although I guess there were plenty some looked a little less than appealing. Somewhere were a little high but mostly I needed them to be good for India. The truck would be in storage near the airport. She would need to get an Uber or something to do much of anything. I couldn’t pick a place way out in the country. It had to be near a grocery store and some restaurants. We didn't know that much about the area and the staff at Red Rocks suggested a place in Camp Verde. It was kind of a new RV facility so it was really just a big parking lot. It was called Verde Ranch Resort and it seemed to have everything we needed. For this time of year, it was about 40 bucks and I just assumed that was normal but three months in the future I checked it and it was like 75 or $80 a night so I felt lucky now that I look back.

The clubhouse, pool, and all the stuff advertised was closed for covid but we chose a site near the woodline where Bert could explore. It's all about the cat. The site was positioned so we could have a private area to ourselves. We settled in for a day and I hopped on a plane out of Phoenix to do the work in Wilmington. India had to be a cat babysitter and manage but we talked every day while I was in Wilmington. I was able to get Ben to help me a good bit to which was a pleasure.

111 Mercer

I arrived in Wilmington safely and that's always good. The next day I went by Butler Electric and got various needed supplies which were the trim-out parts for the recess cans, four-way and three-way switches, dimmers, and all that sort of thing. Luckily Ben had made a good bit of progress with the outlets and switches but there was plenty more to be done. He had also wired the air conditioner up in the attic and the outdoor condenser for Dominic so he could install the floors. To lay hardwood floors the home has to be conditioned so the wood will behave. It wasn’t exciting but it all needed to be done. Installing all the breakers and light switches and dimmers. I began testing finding mistakes and eventually hanging all the light fixtures and getting everything to test out properly. It took about a week's worth of work and I was able to get an electrical inspection and it passed. That was a warm and fuzzy feeling. Anything more that I wanted to do would have to come later but it was a really good feeling to be this far along.

One thing that I really enjoyed doing in the kitchen ceiling was a track light that you can shape using your own creativity. I had mentioned it to Savannah. We made it into the shape of an S and a C which is her initials, Savannah Cothren. We really both like that a lot.

I got the dishwasher, disposal, and range wired and the list go on for quite a while. Finally got finished and then would come the plumbing final and Dominic was able to get everything finalized and pretty soon we had what's called a certificate of occupancy. She was allowed to move in around December or January full-time.

All the details were done and I got to the airport on time. I attempted to get a good seat which was near the exit row it had not occurred to me that somebody would sit down beside me. It turns out it was this big burly guy with his arms on my handrest. I felt intimidated and tried to give him the hint he was in violation of my space but he couldn't take a hint. I was pretty miserable for 4 hours on the way back but I could have gotten up and said what's your problem and keep it inside your area. I didn't push back that hard. It makes me think that in the future I'll get an extra seat I have an empty space in between.

I arrived in Phoenix and was happily uneventful got the truck and was happy to be heading back. It took about two hours to get back to India and I was certainly happy to be home

I returned to camp Verde on Friday the 2nd. We would check in at Red Rocks state park the next day.