Boy!  July went by so fast; it is already the 2nd of August.  For those of you who thought I forgot the July report, I apologize.

 

We are staying steady at 65 spaces full.  The weather has been a lot cooler the last two weeks.  We've had days when the high was under 100 degrees.  Some of you are sweltering away in the Midwest with much higher temperatures and a lot more humidity.  Our humidity has been running a lot higher than usual with the lower temperatures, around 72%.

 

On July 25th we had a huge thunderstorm with lots of lightning and nearly two inches of rain in a few short hours.  I am happy to report that the new drainage under the tennis courts really helped clear the water from Rock Hound.  We did have a small amount of water over the curb on the east side of the street, but it did not go anywhere near the patios and park models like it used to.    Quick thinking by resident, Jim Wickham, kept the water from flowing over the tennis courts by clearing the debris off the grate on the north side of the tennis court.  We got so much water that the retention area was full to the sidewalk on the south end and over the sidewalk on the north side. We also had two major dust storms with fairly high winds, but no damage to homes here.  It makes it hard to decide whether or not to wish for rain or not.

 

Things are really moving along nicely with the refurbishing.  The cabinets in the computer room and arts and crafts room upstairs in the Library building are installed and look great.  All four of those rooms are ready and waiting for carpet.  The Navajo room is all painted and ready for carpet.  The small card room is being painted this week.  I still don't have a delivery date on the carpet.  I ordered it on July 19th, so I should hear something soon.  It will be great to see the rooms completely finished!  

Carol has returned from her vacation.  She went to Texas to visit her sister, Naomi Mounsey, who used to live here and went to a mall with over 240 stores.  (My kind of mall!)  She also went to Missouri and visited the Titanic Museum. She is back to work refreshed and ready to go for the season.  

Jan will be back to work on Monday, August 7th.  She, too, is excited and thinking up all kinds of new things to do.  If any of you have baby pictures, please bring them back when you come.

 

The palm trees are making a huge mess everywhere.  The trimmers will be here next week to begin the long process of trimming our 1157 palm trees.  Bids for the street work have gone out and I have a response from one contractor so far.  Then we can have the streets cleaned so we'll be bright and clean when you all get back.

We had two major water leaks this month alone.  One leak was under the power pedestal so SRP came out and disconnected the power, then came back again to re-energize the line when we were finished.  We are working on the second one now.  We have also discovered that several of the old water valves are not functional.  These will have to be replaced over the next couple of years.

 

It has come to my attention that beginning December 31, 2006 passports are required to travel by air or sea to Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda.   By the end of December 2007, travel restrictions will also include all land border crossings.  Those of you who travel to Mexico for prescription medicine and dental or optical care may want to check into obtaining a passport.  They estimate that there will be several hundred thousand people in the application process during the coming year.  You will need to start long before you plan to travel with a passport. For more information check online at http://passportnvisa.com/
 
I am going on vacation next week.  We are traveling to Cheyenne, Wyoming for my 40th class reunion.  I hope to have a grand time seeing my old friends and enjoying the cooler weather.

Dell and the GVRV Staff