5th-Wheel Wanderings

It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This

2010-01-01T19:04:00.003-07:00

What a wonderful way to begin the new year! Today we hiked 6 miles at San Tan Mountain Regional Park, south of Mesa. We shared the trail with folks on bikes

and others on horses.

This is the first time we have celebrated New Year’s Day with a hike. Most years in the past we would have had to ski, snowshoe or snowmobile to enjoy the outdoors. And it is one of the reasons we are glad we changed our lifestyle last year, one of the benefits of being in Arizona, not Colorado, in winter.

A year ago we were packing boxes and sorting our belongings, deciding what to put in storage, what to sell and what to give away. We look back and have no regrets about deciding to become full-time RVers. At the same time, we knew there would be trade-offs.

This was our first Christmas with no decorations, no Christmas tree. We didn’t host the Christmas dinner. That had its sad or difficult side. On the other hand, it was a quiet, unstressed Christmas. No hurry. We were able to focus on the spiritual meaning of Christmas. And we enjoyed a full day with our son Eric and his family on Christmas day without a lot of work to do.

Christmas wasn’t quite what we would like. And being on the road all the time means we lose out on a lot of family time. But when we think of winters past, with three to five months in our Colorado house, spending most of the time indoors and living in a rut, we don’t regret what we are doing a bit.

Images of Christmas 2009

2009-12-28T19:23:00.003-07:00

We are back in Arizona, but we have so many images of our two+ weeks in Colorado for Christmas.

Kylie, her mom Liz and I went to High Tea at the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver. We joined a number of Kylie's friends and their mothers that day. The Brown is The place to go in Denver if you want history and tradition and elegance.

Earlier in the week, John and I spent the morning with our grandchildren while their parents went Christmas shopping.

Kylie and I made Flying Frog Pudding, using a recipe in a book we gave Kylie earlier this year. First we made the green goo (which really tasted just fine), then Kylie served it to us.

No time with the grandchildren would be complete unless they wrestled with their Papa.

Early Christmas morning (we had to leave our motel in time to arrive by 6:30 am), the tree was surrounded by numerous gifts from Santa and from family.

Kylie received a guitar.

John made a hot pad out of beans for his mother.

Eric and Liz are both fans of the Grateful Dead. This monopoly game was one of Eric's gifts.

John is trying to use his Leapster2.

Nana, Papa and Kylie helped John learn how to play the Sorry game he received.

Papa spent about an hour and a half playing Eric's Grateful Dead-Opoly with Kylie. Monopoly really helps 9- and 10-year-olds practice their math with money.

This shows you why we like to spend the winter in Arizona! It was cold in Denver.

This shows you most of the motel room where we lived for 16 days. Small, but adequate with a kitchen, bathroom, bed, and a way to confine the cats when we were away.

The exercise room at the motel helped us keep our perspective and work off the calories during our visit.

The images of our Christmas Eve worship at Bethany Lutheran Church with our son and his wife and their children are in our hearts and minds, but not in the camera. The service was beautiful and meaningful, in a setting decked with lighted trees and numerous red and white poinsettias. That thanksgiving for the birth of Jesus Christ, Our Savior, is really what it is all about, isn't it?

How Much Space Is Enough?

2009-12-21T18:50:00.001-07:00

How much space is enough? I grew up as an only child with two parents in a 900 square foot house. I enjoyed the large basements found in my friends’ homes, but I never felt we didn’t have enough space.

After I lived four years in a college dorm, John and I were married and rented a small apartment. A couple of years later we bought a mobile home, 12’ by 60’, or 720 square feet. Then we bought a house that was 1200 square feet, with a 1200 square foot basement. The last home we lived in was 1800 square feet, plus a basement.

Now we live in an RV that is 336 square feet. There are two adults and two cats in the RV; our children are grown and gone and we don’t have company for dinner or overnight.

When we were moving into larger homes, lots of people were building homes with 3000 to 4500 square feet. In some areas of Denver, homes are 10,000 square feet and more. How much space is enough?

When I was growing up, my grandmother lived in a couple of different studio apartments. In the 1930s my parents lived in apartments that I imagine were also studios. I feel like maybe we have been transported to those times. We are spending two weeks in a Homestead Suites studio unit. We have a double bed, one chair, a kitchen with a 2-burner stovetop, a microwave, a sink and refrigerator and a counter with two bar stools, and a bathroom. Oh yes, we also have a closet. The place measures 12 x 21 ft.—252 square feet.

There is a sign advertising move-in specials of $699 per month. When I was in the office, I heard a man asking the staff is he was the longest tenant. They said, no, the longest stayed 5 years. I can’t imagine that. But it made me think about where my grandmother and my parents lived. Today (or maybe 2 years ago, before the recession) young married couples expected to buy a house with 2400 to 3000 square feet very early in life. But do we really need all that space? As our children grew up, we found the best family times were when we stayed in a small cabin with 1 or 2 bedrooms and one large room. We all really enjoyed one another when we couldn’t each go into our own private space.

When we began RVing, we had to simplify. For these two weeks, we are doing it even more. And do you know what? It isn’t that bad. We have enough to eat. Enough to keep us busy. Because we don’t have a DVR or 80 to 100 TV channels, we talk to each other more. This life isn’t what we want all the time, but it is enough, for now. I look at it and think it would be enough for students at local colleges, for people in the first year or two of working after school. Where else could a single person rent a place in the greater Denver area for $699? The simple life isn’t that bad, is it?

More of Our Grandchildren

2009-12-19T18:24:00.002-07:00

During the last two days we have seen more of our grandchildren. Friday we drove to John's preschool, The Willows, by 8:30 am, to listen to his Christmas concert. During the last week before Christmas vacation, the boys and girls at the Willows sing Christmas and Hanukkah song for family and friends. This is the same preschool his big sister Kylie attended, so we have come here in years past.

It is really fun to come year after year and see how the children mature. John and his best friend, Patrick, are always together. Patrick lives across the street from John and they had the same nanny for 2 years or more. This is a photo from the last song they sang, "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." John is waving good-bye. Patrick is to his right.

All of the children in the preschool take part in the concert. The preschool allows religious expression, including singing grace before lunch. So many of the songs in the holiday concert are religious. In today's world, that is refreshing. Here is a picture of the whole group.

Today we watched Kylie in a swim meet. She is really good. This is a picture of the board showing that the swimmer in Lane 4, Kylie, took first place in the 200 meter freestyle race, in 1 minute, 23.71 seconds.

A sign of her drive and confidence is the words she had written on her back:

The swimmers all write the event number, heat number and lane on their arms. Kylie added that challenge to her back.

Kylie plays soccer, basketball, as well as swimming and tennis. She is really strong and you can see her muscles when she wears a swim suit. Look at those shoulders!

Notice how John is paying rapt attention to the words of wisdom his dad is sharing with Kylie.

We've had two more great days of grandparent time--one of the main reasons for being in Colorado.

A Visit to Santa

2009-12-18T13:07:00.004-07:00

A big reason for our time in Colorado this month is to have time with our family. Sunday we repeated a Christmas tradition by going to the Colorado Railroad Museum with Eric, Liz, Kylie and John. We, of course, rode the Santa Train. Several times each year the museum fires up steam engine #346 to give visitors a ride around the grounds. We really enjoy taking advantage of the opportunity each December.

This is a view of the train from our open observation car.

This is taken of a later trip. We were able to watch the train as we waited in the line for Kylie and John to see Santa.

Here is a picture of the three men of the family taking the trip.

And here are the women.

The day was cold with a brisk breeze. We were thankful for our winter coats.

After buying some lunch, we waited for Santa and Mrs. Claus to return from their lunch. Kylie and John each told Santa what they want for Christmas. One of Kylie's wishes was for a loose tooth to come out. She is 10, John is 4.

Since this visit is a tradition, each year we visit the same areas of the museum. In the basement there is a large, beautiful model train layout. You can put in a quarter and the train will run. Between the four adults, we only had one quarter. After the train finished running, John asked his papa to put in money again to make the train run. Papa said, "I don't have any more money." To which John replied, "Well, go get some!"

After we watched the garden railroad and the model trains, both children had their faces painted--something new this year. Kylie had a blue whale painted on her cheek.

John chose a spider and web.

When we live on the road, we miss a lot of family time. That makes the experiences and memories of our time with them even sweeter.

Three Generations

2009-12-14T05:53:00.003-07:00

Saturday, the third generation of our family graduated from the University of Colorado. In 1936 my mother received a bachelor’s degree in accounting. In 1965 I received a bachelor’s degree in journalism. In 1966 John received a bachelor’s degree in sociology. Saturday, 73 years after his grandmother graduated from CU, our younger son Eric received a master’s degree in online education.

Eric didn’t go straight from high school to four years of college to get his bachelor’s degree. He took several detours and earned it when he was in his 30s. But then he really made us proud by earning his master’s with straight A’s, graduating summa cum laude. We both were close to tears several times as we saw him in his gown and hood.

And when we saw him receive his diploma. The photo is terrible—taken off the jumbo-tron in low light while he was walking, but I had to show it. He had just shaken hands with Bruce Benson, president of CU.

Here Eric is with John and me and his two children, Kylie and John. His wife, Liz, is taking the picture.

The graduation was held in the Colorado Convention Center. Well over 1,000 students received bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees. It was quite a mob scene, but really ran well and was done in less than two hours. Here Eric and I are, trying to leave the building.

In the afternoon we attended a party to celebrate the event at their house. This is the cake they had made for the occasion.

It isn’t every day of the year any of us can look back on the job we did over the years as parents and feel such incredible pride, humility and joy as we did Saturday. It really is all worth it.

We Made It

2009-12-14T05:43:00.002-07:00

It was a long, cold trip, but we made it to Colorado from Mesa. Because of a massive winter storm, we had to first go south to go north. We drove south to Tucson, east to Deming, NM, then north to Truth or Consequences, NM.

It isn’t easy finding a motel for two humans and two cats, but we did—the Motel 6 there. After a short night, with cats crawling on us and wandering around to check out the strange environment, I walked next door to McDonalds at 5:30 am for coffee and breakfast. Then we were headed on north.

By the time we passed through Albuquerque, we could see evidence of the previous day’s storm. We can up on this overturned semi in the median.

This shows the blowing snow on the highway.

We have lived all our lives in Colorado (with 3 years in Wisconsin) and have always enjoyed winter. Now we like the warmth of Arizona. But the next day we did get to see the beauty of winter snow, seen in this view of the Sangre de Cristos in southern Colorado.

We spent our second night at another Motel 6 in Raton, NM. Again, there was a McDonalds nearby—thankfully they open earlier than the motels put out the morning coffee at 6 am. However, it was a cold walk at about 14 degrees. We thought about calling our son and telling him we really tried to come to his graduation, but we changed our minds and were going back to Arizona. We thought better of that and drove on to Denver.

Now we are in a pet-friendly motel for 16 days. We hope both the cats and we adjust.

Packing to Go

2009-12-07T13:56:00.000-07:00

Yikes! This week we are driving to Colorado for a two-week holiday stay. Since we live in an RV with less than 400 square feet of space, we feel we are living a very simple life—minimalist, almost. Anything we don’t use for a year, we get rid of. We have a place for everything, and everything must be in its place. Otherwise, we don’t have room to do something else.

The flip side is that, every where we go, we take along everything we own. Once before this year we flew to North Carolina for three days. We boarded the cats and lived just fine out of one suitcase.

This time we will be gone about three weeks, when you include our travel time. Some people would cover the 700 miles from Phoenix to Denver in one day. We plan on three days. And we will be traveling with our cats. Taking them with us in the truck is nothing new. Staying in motels for all that time is another matter. We have only done that on one other trip and it wasn’t very fun. And that was 4½ years ago. They are a lot older and more difficult to care for now.

Another issue is what to pack. We have some “dress-up” clothes in storage in Colorado. But what do we need, what can’t we live without and how much do we have room for? We fill the front seat of the truck, the cats take up the rear seat. Whatever we pack needs to go into the tool box in the truck bed or into a plastic tub. One tub will be full of things for the cat—food, medicine, litter, newspaper and plastic to protect the motel floors.

We need to take clothes, computers, our Bibles and prayer books, novels to read, lunch and snacks for at least the first day. We are leaving sunny Arizona, where right now the days are in the 50s and 60s, the nights 30s and 40s, and going to Colorado, with lows in the single digits, highs anywhere from 18 to 40. We need at least one heavy coat each. Normally, that would travel in the trailer. Where does it go now? Thank heavens we mailed all the Christmas gifts, to arrive before we do. We keep reminding ourselves we aren’t going to a wilderness or the North Pole—just a major large city. Anything we need that we don’t pack, we can buy, can’t we?

In past years we have traveled to Europe without our trailer—and we always packed way too much. And that was without computers or cats. This trip is mind boggling. By early tomorrow morning we have to figure it all out.

RVing Friends

2009-12-01T19:28:00.002-07:00

The world of full-time and long-time RVers is relatively small and there aren't a lot of people to share your experiences with who really understand. There are some exceptions. If you stay in an Escapees park, you will find a lot of kindred souls. Sometimes you encounter them in work camping assignments. In any RV or state park where we stay, we meet others and it is possible to have an active engagement with those people. For some RVers, an evening campfire with anyone and everyone in the park is just their cup of tea. But it isn't ours. So this life could be lonely.

After we had been on the road for many months, several years in a row, we discovered Hitchitch.com, a web site with links to many RV blogs by RVers, sharing their lifestyle. It provided us a way to read about the trials, tribulations and multitudes of rewards of the life we were living, too. We started reading those blogs regularly and after a while some of the people seem like old friends. We see their photo at the top of the blog and read about their life, get to look at pictures of their adventures. It seems like we know them.

Well, today, for the first time, we met a couple who we have been reading about for 18 months or longer. Since September Ron and Barbara have been traveling in the same states we have and once, we learned later from reading each other's blogs, we were parked within a few miles of one another in the southern tip of Nevada. They winter in the Phoenix Valley of the Sun and that is where we will be all winter, as well. It was high time we met them.

It has taken about three to four weeks to make it happen, but today we had lunch together at a Garcia's Restaurant in Mesa. We instantly recognized each other, since we "see" each other every time we read a blog. And we talked non-stop for nearly three hours. What fun!

John took a picture of Barbara, Ron and me in front of the restaurant after lunch. We looked for someone to take a picture of all four of us, but we had talked for so long after lunch, not a single wait staff member could be found.

Copper Spike Railroad

2009-11-30T18:41:00.002-07:00

Sunday we took another train ride, this one on the Copper Spike Railroad from the old town of Globe to the new (at least relatively) Apache Gold Casino in San Carlos. Globe is a historic mining town east of Mesa. First they mined silver there and the story goes they found a large ball or globe or glob of silver, so they named the town Globe. The vein of silver soon played out, but they found a lot of copper and the town grew. As a matter of fact, they are still mining copper there, as well as in several other places in Arizona. This is a view of one of the mines.

We arrived in Globe just before 11 a.m. and found that the next train left at 11:30. We bought our tickets, then a volunteer offered to open the Globe museum next door for us and another couple. Globe has been refurbishing its historic sites and the museum is nicely done, if small. The historic train depot has been restored and opened in January. This is the second winter season for the tourist train.

The folks who own the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad, which has a train from Alamosa to La Veta in Colorado, also own the Copper Spike. In 2006 we rode the San Luis Express in Colorado a week after it began operation. You can read about that trip in my blog:
http://5thwheelwanderings.blogspot.com/2006_06_01_archive.html
We rode it again in July 2007. This summer we watched the train pull into La Veta and saw a young man being trained to be a conductor. To our surprise, he was the conductor on our Sunday ride. Here you see the photo John took of him in La Veta and my photo of him and the car attendant on Sunday.

The Copper Spike makes four round trips a day between Globe and Apache Gold. Sunday was cool and rainy, with some hail mixed in at times. As we drove into Globe, we saw this wonderful rainbow.

By the time we boarded the train, the sun came out, but maybe the weather was the reason there were only four other passengers on our trip out of Globe. We were the only passengers returning from the casino. We could have gotten off there, stayed a while, and returned on a later train, but we didn't. Our interest was in the train, not the casino.

The Copper Spike has some neat old cars. First we visited the vista dome car.

We walked through the dining car.

Then we settled in the club car, where we later bought some popcorn. This is the view out the window of the back door in the club car.

It was a fun way to spend our Sunday outing.

Life in a 55+ Resort

2009-11-24T19:28:00.002-07:00

What’s it like to live in a community like Valle del Oro? There are 1761 spaces at VDO for RVs and park models--a community of up to 3600 people, plus those who come in to work. And everyone who lives here has come to play. We’re all in our second childhood.

The tennis courts are busy during all the daylight hours and sometimes at night. The softball field has games on Mondays and practice several times a week, with both a men’s team and a women’s. The streets are busy, and getting busier every day, with cars, bikes, golf carts and walkers. Almost everyone has either a bike of a golf cart. Most are very ordinary, but this is my favorite golf cart.

It is safe to go out for a walk or bike ride after dark because those driving cars look out for others. Everyone says hi when they pass you. Often people on their porch or patio say hi as you pass by. Any evening you go out you see people having company for dinner or cocktails.

We just received an “Itinerary to Fun,” which has nine pages in 8 or 9 point type listing classes, clinics, workshop, games, cards, clubs, groups, health and fitness and recreation activities. There are 12 rooms set aside for games and crafts, a woodworking room and a tool shed housing saw horses, shovels, wheel barrows, ladders and other items the people in RVs and park models might need to use once in a while but not travel with. There are two swimming pools, a large shuffleboard court, horseshoe pits, croquet/bocce ball area, golf driving cage, and a garden scale railroad.

The daily schedule for Mondays lists aquacise, aerobics/dance, ballroom dance, Bible study, bicycle rides, bike club, billiard lessons, bingo, book club, bridge, ceramics, Church Family Home Event, coffee on the Patio, computer groups, croquet, dancercise, family home evening, flex/stretch, Friends of Bill W, garden railroad, hardanger class, hiking club, jam session, lallygabbers, lapidary, leathercraft, line dance, lost wax, Mah Jongg, massage therapy, Mexican Train dominoes, painting, poker, pottery, prophet makers, sewing, shuffleboard, silversmith shop, singles group, snack bar, softball practice, stained glass, sunshine committee, tool shed, VDO artist guild, walk aerobics, water exercise, water volleyball, woodshop, woodworking and yoga. Whew!

One concern we had when we came here was that our neighbors would have expectations that we participate in community events. There are so many things to do here, no one knows if you are doing something or not. There is everything you might possibly want to do and no need to do anything you aren’t interested in. We walk, run and bike here at VDO. We hike by ourselves and take in sites in the greater Phoenix area. And we have all the privacy we want.

We have seen cottontail rabbits and Gambel Quail in our yard and one morning I saw a coyote walking through the park just after dawn. And yet we are in the middle of Arizona's third largest city. What else could you ask for--unless it would be dark skies and a little less activity. As much as we enjoy dark, it is the street lights that make it possible to bike and walk after dark. There are always compromises.

We are really enjoying our stay here as Snow Birds.

Botanic Gardens

2009-11-23T14:35:00.002-07:00

Sunday we visited the Phoenix Botanic Gardens. We looked at cactus and other succulent plants till our brains were full and overflowing with images. Unfortunately, that didn't leave much room for facts about what we were seeing.

At the entrance, these three glass sculptures are in amongst the live cactus (cacti--but I don't like that word). They are called Desert Towers.

The Gardens are full of many kinds of cactus. We focused mainly on the plants of the Sonoran Desert that surrounds us here. This view shows one of the Papago Buttes near the gardens, as well as a beautiful Saguaro and Organ Pipe.

They even provide facilities to help visitors take their own group photo as the tour. Here you see a platform to hold your camera that is turned to a time-delay exposure. There is even a sign so tourists will remember where they were.

Both Apache and O'odham Native Americans lived in this desert. Below you see an Apache Wickiup (with the canvas cover at the top) and an Akimel O'odham Roundhouse. These houses show how local vegetation was used for housing. Other displays show how they used local plants for food and household items.

Before modern settlers diverted much of the Salt and Gila Rivers for irrigation and drinking water, the desert had a lot more flowing water. These wetlands were full of useful plants and wildlife. This stream and willows or bamboo-like reeds made for a pretty picture.

God has made his creation in such marvelous ways that plants provide their own protection. Some cactus plants are covered with hair to provide their own shade.
This is an Old Man Cactus.

This one was only labeled with its Latin name, so I won't bore you with it.

The spines on cactus protect the plants from animals that might want to eat them for water or food. I think they do a pretty good job of that on this Golden Barrel Cactus, don't you?

Some of the cactus reminded us of snakes, often snakes in heaps.

This one looks like a telephone pole that has sprouted leaves. Really it is from the Ocotillo family and is called a Boojum tree.

If I didn't know better, I would say there were green pine cones covered in snow.

Here John is admiring a Fence Post Cactus. You wouldn't want to push through that fence, would you?

This is one last pretty picture. But I don't know what plant it is.

Fremont Saddle

2009-11-19T14:45:00.003-07:00

Yesterday we went on another great hike--exhausting, but great. We hiked the Peralta Trail west of Mesa to Fremont Saddle. This is a very popular trail, with a huge parking lot.

We were hiking in the Superstition Wilderness in the Tonto National Forest.

Whoops! The hike got off to a bad start. I pulled my hat out of the back seat and put it on backwards.

There is a 1500 foot elevation gain over about 2 1/2 miles and the trail is full of large rocks. So we had to work. But the area is beautiful. We saw this hole in one rock.

A local hiker told us some people think this cave was used by Geronimo.

Balanced rock is another formation we saw along the way.

We have never seen so many century plants and sotol in one place. The century plant is on the left here. It only blooms once in its lifetime, although it doesn't live 100 years before that happens. The tall plant on the right is the sotol. Both tall flowering stems grow out of a plant that is a variety of yucca.

When we reached Fremont Saddle, we could look over the ridge into another valley. Center stage was this large rock formation called Weaver's Needle. It is really impressive. We wondered if it is the core of an old volcano.

The area around Weaver's Needle is full of multiple spires. This gives you a little idea of what we saw.

As we hike back to the trail head, the view was magnificent. But going down wasn't any easier than climbing up. Downhill is hard on the knees and pushes my toes into the front of the boot. But we will try to this hike again sometime this winter.

We Weren't Lost

2009-11-14T14:02:00.002-07:00

Friday we hiked six or six and a half miles in the Superstition Mountains east of Mesa. From a distance these mountains look like barren dark-red rock.

We hiked the Lost Mine Trail off Peralta Road. The trailhead was hard to miss.

Up close, the hillsides are covered with green Palo Verde, Saguaro, Mesquite and other cactus and shrubs.

A miner named Jacob Walz brought gold out of these mountains so pure that when he died in 1891 without revealing its source, a legend was born. For a century miners have hunted for the "Dutchman's" mine, without success. A nearby Arizona State Park is named Lost Dutchman and this trail is named for the lost mine.

We had the trail to ourselves yesterday under a cloudy sky. It was good to hike in the cooler air.

I just love the Saguaro and like to imagine what their various shapes look like. Is this one saying, go to the left?

This fellow seems to be motioning, come here.

When I read about the hike online, they described a Saguaro near the beginning of the trail that reportedly has 40 arms and you can't see daylight through it. I believe it.

For Pet Lovers Only

2009-11-11T11:32:00.003-07:00

If you have never loved a pet for many years, you might not be interested in reading this post. In fact, you will probably think we are crazy when you read it--even if you do love your pet.

We have two wonderful old cats, PC, age 17, and Partner, 16. PC is the gray tabby, Partner is black and white.

For six years, diabetic PC has been receiving a daily insulin shot. He is an old man, with arthritis in his back and dementia. Partner has numerous allergies and serious digestive tract problems, leading to frequent vomiting. For the past 16 months he has received medicine with his meals, three times a day.

All of this information explains why we cover the carpet in our trailer and our chairs with plastic--to protect them from Partner. We also have Plexiglas fences to keep PC from using the corners instead of the litter box.

We got so tired of the plastic on the floor, we went shopping for new flooring. We chose an Armstrong vinyl that looks like wood laminate and it was installed yesterday. First we had to confine the cats to our bedroom, after covering the bed and the floor with plastic, of course.

Then Tony and George from Mesa Sales removed the old carpet and vinyl, prepared the floor, and spread out the new flooring.

A week ago we had purchased two new leather chairs. They were crowded onto the living room slide while the work was being done.

Here is our new living space. As you can see, we still have the Plexiglas fences and plastic covering the carpet on the slide. But the area where we walk looks great, and its not covered with plastic. We're not in danger of tripping on it and falling.

This is one of the new chairs.

This is one of the new chairs, covered with plastic to protect it from Partner when we are not in the trailer to provide adult supervision. We love those cats so much, but they sure do complicate our lives.

55+ Resort

2009-11-09T19:31:00.002-07:00

We are parked for two months at Valle del Oro, a 1760 space 55+ Resort in Mesa, Arizona. We never expected to spend this much time in one place, if we weren’t volunteering somewhere. But we did want to be in Arizona and didn’t have any specific sightseeing plans. When we learned about Cal-Am’s sale (Cal-Am is based in Costa Mesa, California, and owns seven resorts here in the Phoenix area) we decided to take advantage. They offered three months—October 1 to January 5—for the price of $795. Of course, water, sewer and electric are extra, but 96 nights for $795 is only $8.28 a night—better than full hookups at a Corps of Engineers park at half price for seniors. We didn’t arrive in Mesa until Oct. 26. Even then, we will be parked here for 67 days at a cost of $11.86 a day.

What is really surprising is we are enjoying it. This is a view of our trailer, looking down a row of Park Model homes.

What are they? They are small mobile homes, maybe 34 ft long by 12 feet wide, that are pulled in on wheels, then set up on blocks and attached to the utilities. A covered car port is usually built and many people add what is called an “Arizona Room.” It amounts to a family room, attached to the original structure. The same lots used for the park model homes are also used for RVs, like ours.

Our trailer front door faces the south, so we are in full sun all day. The good news is, we have only had one day of wind since we arrived. Almost the entire summer, we had wind every day and have rarely been able to use our awning. Although it doesn’t give us enough shade to sit out there, it does help keep the trailer cool.

On the north side of the trailer, we have shade. We put our chairs there, where we are surrounded by citrus trees.

There are grapefruit trees and lemon trees. Even when the fruit looks ripe, it is still hard. I wonder if any of it will be ripe enough to eat before we leave here.

When you drive around the Phoenix area, wherever you see large concentrations of palm trees, you know you are approaching either a 55+ resort or a shopping mall.

And what do 55+ resorts offer? There is a swimming pool, shuffle board and tennis courts, a softball field, exercise room, sewing room, computer room, wood shop, “lost wax casting” room, lapidary room, and numerous activities. We probably won’t participate in many activities. We aren’t traveling to spend lots of time with people. We have signed up for the Thanksgiving Day dinner. And we check out the information on the hikes to get ideas for our own—private—hikes. These resort activities are the main reason a lot of people come here, I think. That just isn’t our way of life.

Hiking

2009-11-04T12:54:00.005-07:00

We are just 6.5 miles from the entrance to Usery Mountain Regional Park, one of several parks operated by Maricopa County, home of Phoenix. This week we have taken two early morning hikes at Usery Mountain. It has been important to get out early, because the temperatures are up into the low 90s in the afternoon. We haven't adapted to the Phoenix heat and have no interest in learning what it is like here in the summer.

Hiking in the Sonoran Desert is different than in the mountains of Colorado. We don't see evergreen trees, bubbling streams and willows. But we do enjoy the diversity of this desert environment. We have been here often in the last three years and we feel almost like we are coming home.

The park is covered with palo verde and several varieties of cholla cactus.

Monday we arrived at the trailhead at 7:45 am and found nine cars were there ahead of us. The trail was busy. We passed numerous people on the three-mile round trip trail up to Wind Cave. Rated as moderate, there is some elevation gain and a rocky surface. It was a good hike. We passed a number of younger, fit women, two of them running the trail. We also encountered a number of gray-haired, overweight men, including one who asked if we had seen any other "old geezers like him" on the trail.

In addition, we were visited by this ground squirrel, who was looking for something to eat.

Today we took a four-mile hike around Cats Peak. We had that trail almost entirely to ourselves, but it didn't have much of a climb. The quiet was very nice, however.

Today we saw the moon in the western sky, as well as several interesting saguaro cactus.

Snowbirds

2009-10-31T15:34:00.000-06:00

OMG! We have really become snowbirds. We have spent time in Arizona five times in the last three years. But we have always been going against the traffic—driving south in March and north in October, always watching hundreds of RVs (so it seemed) going the opposite direction. Until this year, that is.

This year, we drove south in the first week of February and again in mid-October, and many of the RVs on the road were going the same direction we were. We will be spending the first three months of 2010 volunteering at Casa Grande Ruins in Coolidge, AZ. We had planned to slowly make our way south—Wickenburg, Cottonwood, Mesa, Tucson, Benson—then put the trailer in storage for a couple of weeks while we go to Colorado for Christmas.

Our plans changed this week when a cold front moved through Arizona. We are parked in Mesa and temperatures ranged between the mid-40s and the mid-60s. But when we checked the weather in Benson, the low on Thursday morning was 18 degrees. What is the definition of a Snowbird? It is a gray-haired human flying south to avoid the snow and stay WARM. That cold front brought lots of snow to Colorado and other northern states, driving lots of snowbirds south.

And we changed our plans for the rest of this year, signing up for a sale here at Valle del Oro. For one flat rate, we can have our RV here till January 5. We have stayed in other snowbird parks that have both park models and RV sites, but always off season. We thought they would be too crowded and too social for us during the busy season. Granted, we have to leave in the first week of January, before the place really fills up. But the park’s character is already changing. We will see soon whether we enjoy it or not. But the Phoenix area is relatively warm—our first criteria for a winter place to park.

Each day many new people arrive—some in the RVs, which they spend the winter in; some in RVs that they empty into their park model, then put into storage; others by car or plane, headed for their park model. Classes, hikes, social events are gearing up. We don’t know how we will feel by the time we leave for Christmas, but we are enjoying learning about something new and wearing shorts to go hiking.

A Train Ride

2009-10-28T14:28:00.002-06:00

John and I are train buffs and we try to ride them as often as we can. Unfortunately, it has been a long time since there was a good opportunity to do that. I enjoy the ride and the scenery. John enjoys both of those aspects, as well as the sounds and the chance to study the train engine.

Saturday, we rode the Verde Canyon Railroad, a 40-mile trip along the Verde River through wilderness from Clarkdale to Perkinsville. First John spent some time looking at the two engines--F-7 diesels. Isn't that a great eagle painted on the side?

The Verde River was lined with trees turning yellow. The clear sky was reflected in the stream. This shot gives a good view of both the river and the train.

Open cars are an amenity that makes rail fans happy on tourist trips. This train had one open car for each traditional Pullman coach. As you can see, most people spent the trip outside. We had perfect weather for that, sun but not too hot.

There was a lot to see in the canyon. First we came on a Sinagua Indian cliff house. Theses southwestern Indians lived in the area during about the same time the Anasazi lived in the four-corners area of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.

In addition to the Sinagua ruins, we saw what archaeologists believe is the remains of a Hohokam pit house. Look at the dead tree in the center, surrounded by a low stone wall. The Hohokam were Indians that built extensive canals to support their irrigated farms along the Salt and Gila Rivers in Arizona, south into Meso-America. At the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument in Coolidge one of their last and largest structures can be viewed.

Some American Bald Eagles live year-round in the canyon. Others migrate through. Here is a shot of an eagle nest on the canyon wall.

Later we saw one of the Eagles. He was a long way away, so this picture is a little fuzzy, between the extreme telephoto aspect and the moving train. But you can see it really is an American Bald Eagle.

We also saw this magnificent Great Blue Heron down by the river.

2009-10-25T13:17:00.003-06:00

Earlier this week we visited two towns near Dead Horse State Park, where we are staying for a week. Wednesday we drove to Sedona, a city located in what must be the most spectacular setting we have ever seen. This photo was taken from the sidewalk in the center of town.

Before lunch we drove up the Oak Creek Canyon north of Sedona. The scenery is beautiful. We saw fall color, red rock formations and colorful rock walls.

After lunch, we enjoyed exploring Sedona. Other than getting a start on our Christmas shopping, we didn't buy anything. Large paintings and expensive jewelry don't fit in our RV or out lifestyle. But we did enjoy looking. And the town has numerous statues--of javelinas and western subjects.

One very attractive shopping area is Tlaquepaque, a development resembling a Mexican village. We found numerous corners like this as we went from shop of shop.

It is amazing to us that roses are blooming in late October. This was taken in the rose garden at Tlaquepaque.

We found these chairs in front of one of the restaurants. They are surprisingly comfortable, considering they are made of rocks.

Jerome is a small mining community high on a hill, overlooking the Verde River Valley. We thought we would be visiting what amounted to a ghost town and were going to compare it to those we know in Colorado. Were we ever surprised! It is a town that holds ghost hunting bus tours and focuses on the bawdy and the macabre. The House of Joy sells bordello tokens and skeleton statues. This is a view of their garden. If you look closely you will see a casket and a detached arm. (Is it really a casket? John doesn't think so.)

The name of this pizza place shows you what I mean by bawdy.

The town sits on a steep hill. The building roofs on one street are lower than the sidewalk on the next street. Those miners, as well as today's residents, get really good exercise moving around Jerome.

At the very top of the town we found the Jerome Grand Hotel. We were probably the only visitors who walked there, looking for some lunch.

The restaurant is called The Asylum.

It was decorated (for Halloween only?) with a casket and body, spider webs and black cats. The wait staff was in costume. We were served by a jar of mustard and watched a belly dancer serving food. We did enjoy our lunch.

2009-10-22T14:57:00.002-06:00

Before we left Nevada, we visited the Nevada Southern Railroad Museum and downtown Boulder City, where are RV park was located. The museum had both steam and diesel engines.

We also found a small switcher engine with an interesting name. It had been used at the rocket development sites operated by the US Atomic Energy Commission and US Air Force in Area 25, which is located in Jackass Flats in Nevada.

Mountains in Nevada are not the tree-covered areas we are used to. But they have their own interesting character. The red mountain below is on the edge of Boulder City. We saw the great formations as we drove south into Arizona.

Downtown Boulder City is very attractive. The city grew to serve the many workers who came in to build Boulder Dam, which created Lake Meade. We enjoyed a beer at the Boulder Dam Brewing Co. The word "dam" is used on the local hotel, as well as on the clothing store.

From Boulder City, we drove to North Ranch, an Escapees RV Park in Congress, AZ. Congress is just a wide spot in the road with a post office. About 15 miles south of North Ranch is the town of Wickenburg. It is an attractive, very western town. We visited the Cowboy Caboose in downtown. It had housed the cowboys who accompanied their cattle on train trips to distant markets. We were told the cowboys were along because every 200 miles, the train had to stop so the cattle could be taken out of the cars, exercised and given food and water. That could make a train trip from Wickenburg to Fort Worth or Chicago a very long haul.

Throughout the town there are statues with a story to tell. This is a young school teacher, fresh off the train, engaged to teach in the local one-room schoolhouse for the year.

We know we are back in Arizona, the land of glorious sunrises and sunsets. These were taken from our site at North Ranch.

We Walked 7 Miles

2009-10-15T14:43:00.002-06:00

But where were we? First we drove down into the Virgin River Gorge. The rock formations along the way are very interesting. Not very colorful, but pretty in their own way.

We saw numerous caves in the walls of the gorge.

Eventually, we drove through a Joshua Tree Forest. I really find these trees fascinating. They only grow in a few areas.

Then yesterday we took a long walk. We might have been in the tropics.

Or maybe in Rome.

Or even Paris.

Do you give up? We took our walk on the Las Vegas Strip.

A year ago, we said we wouldn’t return here for several years. But Vegas makes a good stop when you are headed south on I-15. And last year I didn’t take a camera when we toured the southern part of The Strip. So we returned to get a few pictures. And eat a good buffet lunch. That was it. John did put a $1 bill in a slot machine, but he didn’t win anything. Tomorrow we go on to Arizona.

The Color of Zion

2009-10-10T08:49:00.003-06:00

After several months of landscapes colored by amber waves of grain, we have arrived in southwestern Utah, otherwise known as Color Country. We have been to Zion National Park twice before, but I had forgotten the real beauty and color that surrounds the visitor there. We hiked there Wednesday, climbing to Scout Lookout. That is a point about 1/2 mile from Angels Landing, a really beautiful place about mid-way into the Zion Canyon through the park.

Hopefully you can appreciate the beauty of Angels Landing from this viewpoint on the floor of the canyon--more than 1000 ft above the Virgin River. We had no intention of climbing to the very to. Those climbing beyond Scout Landing use the chain you can see here for the final ascent. It helps keep them from slipping off the trail. We were not the least bit interested in going that last half mile, either this year or four years ago.

This little chipmunk was doing his best to tempt all the hikers into owing a $100 fine for feeding the wildlife. He knew how to get fed and raise money for the park at the same time. We had already eaten our lunch, plus we knew better than to give him anything. Isn't he cute, though?

The many rock formations in Zion range in color from white through several shades of red to black. Here are a some photos of the canyon walls.

The trail to Scout Lookout has an elevation gain of over 1,000 ft and the trail is very, very steep in places. This is looking back down one stretch of the trail.

Here you can see the switchbacks on the lower part of the trail.

Near the top is a stretch of trail named Walter's Wiggles, a series of 21 switchbacks carved out of the side of the cliff and held up by stone walls. We took photos from both the bottom and the top of the wiggles.

The trail gives a good view of Virgin River as it flows through the canyon.

America's Best Idea

2009-10-05T19:20:00.002-06:00

"Let those who will, buy lands, hoard money. We will have memories, glad memories of golden experiences together." Margaret Gehrke diary.

Margaret and Edward Gehrke fell in love with America's National Parks in the early 20th Century and visited many of them through the years, first by train and later driving a series of Buicks. I learned about them in the current PBS series, National Parks, America's Best Idea. If you haven't watched it yet, find it on your local station. Record it on your Tivo or DVR if you can. The two-hour segments reflect much of the wonder we feel about those parks. And we are learning so much by watching them.

Our work camping has taken us to three national parks and monuments and today I searched through out Passport Book and discovered that we have visited at least 92 national parks, monuments, historical sites and recreation areas over the years. And we have so many more to see.

We have memories, so many glad memories of golden experiences. That is what we are collecting in our travels. And we treasure the memories. In fact, each morning we have a "history lesson." John goes through past years' calendars and reads what we did one, two and three years ago on this date. Last year on Oct. 5 we were in Hawthorne, NV; in 2007 we were at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon; in 2006 we were at our house in Centennial. The history of days in that house are most often the most boring, especially since our children grew up and left home. That is why we are now full-timing.

What are your memories? Are you collecting golden ones?

A Mixed Bag

2009-10-04T13:11:00.002-06:00

The last few days have been a mixed bag. We drove to Utah Lake State Park in Provo from our overnight stop in McCammon. We had read good reviews of the campground on www.RVParkReviews.com. The sites were very good and we found one that was very private.

Everything was fine until we stepped into the restrooms. They were filthy! We had volunteered at Kodachrome State Park in southern Utah two years ago and everything there was spotless. I guess nobody told the management at Utah Lake what was necessary. Maybe they just quit caring after Labor Day. Two days into our stay, they power washed the restrooms. But when something is really dirty, just spraying it with water doesn’t do it.

We had headed south on Monday to get away from the snow coming to Bozeman. We didn’t go far enough, fast enough. Tuesday we woke to find snow on the nearby Wasatch Mountains.

At least it didn’t accumulate at our altitude! We had quail walking through our site. What a treat!

Saturday we drove through the American Fork Canyon to the Timpanogos Cave National Monument. The drive through the canyon was beautiful with great fall colors. We didn’t go on a cave tour, but we did hike the steeeep mile-and-a-half trail to the cave entrance.

We were amazed at how many people were hiking up to go on cave tours. Many of those on the trail were families with young children. The monument will close in two weeks until next spring.

We left Utah Lake today, heading for Sand Hollow State Park near the town of Hurricane and Zion National Park. We didn’t make it that far. There is a storm coming in from the Pacific Northwest and the winds just got harder and harder. So we pulled off at Beaver and found a KOA. We almost never stay at KOA campgrounds because of the cost. We even thought our KOA card had expired. We were delighted to find out it was still in force, plus we had accumulated enough points in years past to receive both our 10% discount and an additional $10 off. So this stop only cost $23. That was a nice end to a tense 150-mile drive.