A funny experience

Venture Out is a 55+ "active adult" community.

There are definitely *senior* adults living here with us (certain days, we definitely resemble that description!).

When I was volunteering at the Activities Office recently, a lady came in ... I said brightly, "How may I help you?" 

She responded, "I'm sure that there is a Michigan driver's license office here in Mesa, but I can't find where it is located. Can you help me find the address for the Michigan driver's license office?"

I am certain that the blank expression on my face made it obvious that I was not sure how to answer. The office manager, Denise, was at her desk just behind me and noticed that I wasn't responding. She said, "What was it that you need?"

The lady elaborated, "I need to know the address for the Michigan driver's license office. I've lost my Michigan driver's license and I need to get a new one."

Now, Denise had a similar expression on her face!

I asked Denise if we'd had a Michigan driver's license get turned in to lost and found (we hadn't -- we would have called the resident if it had). 

I responded to the resident, "I don't think that Michigan has a driver's license office here in Mesa. When I had a similar situation a few years ago with the state of Texas - not a driver's license, but we had lost our vehicle registration - I had to fill out information online with the state of Texas. It cost us $2 but we were able to get a duplicate copy sent to us. I don't know what the state of Michigan will require, but I think you're going to need to do it online or by phone."

I added, "Are you okay with looking things up online?" (There are more than a few residents here who are not, and I was willing to help her outside of my Activity Office duties if that was the case.)

She said she was okay with doing it online -- and left with a smile.

Denise and I looked at each other, grinned, and shook our heads! 

Protecting assets

Since getting the new Honda CR-V, Carl has been on Facebook learning about the vehicle from other owners. One of the things he had read about was that the front radar sensor could be removed pretty easily and stolen - which would then lose the functionality of adaptive cruise control and collision mitigation (https://www.cbtnews.com/thieves-target-radar-sensors/). Replacement if the device was stolen could cost $500-1500.

Carl also read that there was an aftermarket radar sensor cover and protector available (https://www.crvownersclub.com/threads/radar-sensor.251893/), so he had ordered it from Amazon. It had arrived and he installed it a couple of days ago...

The sensor is located behind the Honda "H" in the front grille. Separately from the concern about theft, it seems also that the sensor can be limited in functionality by rain or snow or obstructions that might obscure the front grille area. The protector device does not help with this.

After Carl took the "H" off, the sensor was revealed.

It was very easy to remove the sensor...

... all he would need to do to steal it was to unplug the wires. (Note: you probably don't want to purchase a used one as it was likely stolen.) Carl didn't unplug the wire as that would have required re-calibration of the unit.

The protector consisted of three stainless steel plates and four screws -- one of the the plates can be seen on the front of the mounting area, the other is ell shaped and you can just see the shiny edge peeking out -- the other part of the ell is behind the mounting area so the front plate can screw into it through the plastic components. A hex tool is used to tighten those two plates into place.

The final component of the protector attaches to the sensor and is then screwed into the plate that was previously attached.

The kit included a torque security bit to tighten the last screws and secure the protector into place. 

Replace the "H" and the task is completed!

Technically, if someone tries to steal it even with the protector is in place, they could break up all the plastic and still make off with it. But, if they were hoping to make a quick grab in a relatively public place, maybe that will make it enough more difficult that they'll seek out another vehicle instead of taking from ours. (Make your property harder to steal so they seek out someone else's.)

It is frustrating that we need to protect against this kind of theft. It is also frustrating that Honda hasn't made more of an effort to make it less steal-able, but... I guess they don't see an advantage to putting more money into protecting it -- they aren't out any money, they make money again through their parts department if a customer has to purchase a replacement sensor from them. (Why is it like this? "Follow the money," as my brother says!) 

Enjoying Mediterranean food

We had hoped to go out for gyros after our hike on Monday, but since the hike finished later than we anticipated, we decided to wait for another day. We visited MV (Most Valuable) Pita on Wednesday, and enjoyed some of the thoughts displayed on their walls:

<grin>

Working presales for the theater show

I volunteer in the Activity office for half a day a week. Denise, the office manager, asked for volunteers to help with the presales for the "VO on Stage" performances coming up later in February. We had training a couple of days before (after our hike and line dance review on Monday), and then we gathered on Wednesday morning to sell tickets in the Bistro.

Carl stopped by after he had gone to Stretch and Tone and took some pictures...

Most of the rush was done within about 45 minutes of our start but we stayed around for a bit longer...

... and Carl got pictures of us all ready to sell tickets!

The theater shows are scheduled for a Saturday matinee, followed by Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evening performances. There are assigned seats in the ballroom for these events so people get to pick the specific seats they want. The front rows went first, with seats on the aisle also being popular. We sold about 1/3 of the total tickets the first morning, and the rest will be sold in the Activity Office over the next couple of weeks. 

Anniversary Dinner

We decided to go out to Longhorn Steakhouse to celebrate our anniversary...

Six years -- we still know that we are blessed!

We had steak filets and...

Stampede cake for desert! If you can believe it, that is just a half serving of cake! We took half of it to go to enjoy on another day at home!

It was a wonderful day!

VO Hiking Group

On our anniversary (Monday, 2/2), we joined the VO Hiking Group for a planned hike to Mask Arch. We had gone with a VO group a couple of years ago, but at that time, we went with the mid-level hikers and found that they were more intense than we were (we like to stop and enjoy the scenery and take pictures!). This time, we joined the Trekking Tortoises, which is a lower level group -- not the lowest as there is a group of folks who are in "recuperation" mode from injuries or surgeries. We were hoping that we could keep up with the tortoises!

Heading out from the trailhead at the end of Idaho Road in Apache Junction

It was a *gorgeous* day!

Much of the hike was in dry washes -- which were sandy bottom so a little harder walking, but easier than slippery rocks. There were two challenging parts, each time was when we were going down into a wash.

Within the wash, the going was relatively easy.

We stopped for a photo... as you can see behind us, the desert is SO green this year! You might notice a black thing sticking up over my left shoulder -- we had each brought two hiking poles. We had decided we each only needed one so that's the foot of my unused pole sticking up out of my backpack. Later in the hike, when we were climbing down a treacherous part into the wash, everyone needed to use a pole, and we were able to loan our two extra poles to folks who didn't have them.

We stopped at a wildlife water catchment (https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-environment/2025/05/26/arizona-manages-3000-watering-holes-thirsty-wildlife/83778262007/)

Leaving the watering hole -- it was enclosed within a fence to keep out range cattle.

By this point we were shedding jackets and using the drinking water that we had brought along to keep hydrated.

We got to a point where part of the group continued up a hill, following an animal track or bushwacking up to the saddle up above them. Evidently, this is where the "mask arch" could be seen, but we elected to stay down in the wash and wait for them to return! (https://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=15808)

A picture of some of the group who decided to wait for the others to return. We got to eat snacks that we had brought and drink some water we had brought with us.

A couple of horses came through the wash while we were sitting there.

The more adventurous group eventually rejoined us...

... and we headed back toward the trailhead via a different route than the one we came in.

We all made it safely back to our cars and then back to Venture Out.

The hike was longer than we had anticipated (both in distance and time) -- we ended up getting back to VO later than I had hoped as I help with a line dance review class for the absolute beginners on Mondays at 12:30pm. I got there by 12:45pm, and the main teacher was there so it wasn't a problem.  Following the line dance review, I had a meeting for a group of us to learn about running a pre-sale for theater tickets on Wednesday morning. It all worked out, but I felt like I was running from one thing to another!

Regarding being able to "keep up" with the tortoises, the pace was definitely more what we could do (there were a few folks slower than us). We did find that it is important to keep near the leader of the group because, while they will stop to let the slower folks catch up, they tend to start going again as soon as the slower folks get there, so the slower folks get either no break or a very short one. So, by the end, I was positioned right behind the leader which worked well for me. There were about 20 people on the hike, so even if we were all hiking at the same speed, we still got pretty spread out when we were going single file. 

RO System for the house

We have a water softener and RO (reverse osmosis) system on Gracie -- it is nice to have when we're traveling to different places around the country and have differing water qualities being supplied by the campgrounds. Arizona is one of the places where the water tends to be very hard. We have been carrying RO water from Gracie to the house in 7 gallon containers, but since the RV lot was going to be rented out (so Gracie wouldn't be hooked up to water), we needed an alternative solution for drinking water in the house.

Carl had ordered a system and it arrived from Amazon. The system was from iSpring (click here to see on Amazon if you're interested) and Carl was very impressed with the quality of the system as well as the instructions.

Some of the components: 

7 stage system

Water faucet at the sink to deliver RO water

Three gallon tank to have RO water on demand without having to wait for the filtering

Carl got it all installed one day while I was out for lunch with friends! What a handy guy to have around the house! (He has lots of other desirable qualities too!)