Water...water everywhere but not a drop to drink..."

We woke this morning to no water…ugh!!! Up until now, my idea of roughing it was staying at a Holiday Inn instead of the Ritz. One of the RVers drove away without unhooking their water hose, which tends to create a mini Old Faithful. I think this happens often...hopefully it won't be something we experience personally. Luckily they were not near us, but they had to shut off the water to the entire park for repairs. It was back on within a couple of hours. Now we are experiencing 20-30 mph wind gusts which tend to shake the coach. We are hoping someone pulls in on both sides of us soon to act as a buffer. The park is starting to clear out some; they are getting the spots ready for a Monaco rally on the 15th.


We visited 4th Avenue, an area in downtown Tucson similar to the Delmar Loop in St. Louis. We stopped 3 coeds to ask them about the area and if it was worth a visit and their reply was its fun if you like the hippie era…..well…we ARE the hippie era!
The Hippie Gypsy brought back lots of college memories with its shelves stuffed with tie-dye T-shirts, Jimi Hendrix posters and hash pipes. The colorful murals on the sides of many of the buildings and their trash cans made out of old bicycle parts were fun to see.





Hope all is well!

Joan & Ron

Poor...Poor...Pitiful Ron

I apologize to anyone who tries to follow our blog on a regular basis. I realize it is frustrating to log on only to find nothing new posted. I will try to do better…can’t get any worse! I haven’t been blogging mainly because our activities have been limited because of Ron’s knee, back and shoulder pains. We had an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon March 17th but the pain was getting too bad so we made a trip to the emergency room. Eight hours later we had a diagnosis of arthritis in the knees (which we knew), and a start in his back. He walked in saying “give me drugs” and we walked out with 3 prescriptions. They have helped him sleep which is a plus in itself. We got into another orthopedic doctor 2 days later and have a follow up visit in a couple of weeks. Which means we will be staying in Tucson at least another month. The temperature has been in the 60’s & 70’s so I am not complaining. Some of Ron’s other symptoms were fatigue, loss of appetite, a cough and rash – which, in talking to a lady who has been coming to Tucson for the last 8 years, are symptoms of valley fever. Valley fever is an airborne spore that lodges in the lungs and for some is very hard to kick. Luckily Ron has gotten over it and is back to his normal self. He keeps saying it was like nothing he has ever experienced before.


I went out to the Tucson Skeet & Trap Club to visit with our dear friends Carmel and watched Mel shoot. It is the first time I have seen a trap shoot tournament and it is amazing at the number of men & women who participate in this sport. The grounds are wall to wall RV’s and vendors. Very interesting. We were able to spend some time visiting and attending another shoot even though Ron was not at his best.

We spent an afternoon in Tubac, AZ which at one time was an Indian village then home to Spanish explorers, Mexican ranchers, Mormon farmers and American settlers. It was established in the early 1700’s and became home to hundreds of artists & galleries in 1972. Today, besides the art galleries, there are many unique boutiques & restaurants.


Representative early 1700's Tubac street.


Neat tiled street signs in the artsy village.


We also viewed the Diamondbacks’ & Colorado Rockies’ opening spring training game. Our goal is to try to see the Cardinals in as many different parks as we can as we travel around. But in the meantime it was great to see a pro game even though the D-backs lost 11-1 so it was not a very exciting game. Ron was rooting for the D-backs since he felt a loyalty as we are residing here for 2 months. I on the other hand was hoping for a Rockies win since Colorado is my birth state. So we knew, either way, one of us was going to bring home a winner. This is the last year the D-backs will use the Tucson Electric Park for their spring training. They are moving to a soon to be built stadium in Phoenix. A sad day for Tucson – they built a very nice stadium that seats 11,000 in 1991 and now the team feels they need bigger and better…does that sound familiar?


Opening ceremony at first game of Diamondbacks spring training.


D-backs badly beaten....Ron's disappointed look.

Yesterday we attended the Fiesta de Saguaro, an annual event featuring native Mexican dancers, Mariachi bands, food and a pinata for the children. We will go back again to take the 8 mile scenic drive and some short walks in the Saguaro National Park.


Dancers from Tucson High School. Costumes are so colorful!


Another group of dancers. Each dress has over 200 yards of ribbon.



Tucson High School Mariachi band. These talented students not only have mastered their instrument, but also sang!


Pinata.


We are such tourist....but having fun.

Hope all is well.

Joan & Ron

Nothing too exciting.

The last couple of days have been our opportunity to do grocery shopping, cleaning & laundry.

Ron's knee is bothering him again so alot of walking and golf for sure is out of the question. He has an appointment with a doctor here to take a look at it. He has been treated for arthritis and received a cortesone shot that lasted 16 months. He's hoping this doctor will be able to give him some relief again. Although I'm not thrilled using a doctor we are not familiar with, we probably are in an ideal area with the aging population and snowbirds that frequent Arizona in the winter.

I told Ron I refused to take anymore pictures of him in his favorite Steston hat. So he wanted to buy this hat instead. I'm very thankful I was able to talk him out of it!! Actually I think he has it on backwards....he just wanted to give credence to his beloved Steston!!



Hope all is well!

Joan & Ron

Tucson..sunny & relaxing!

Since we have been in Tucson we have toured the Biosphere 2, Tohono Chul Park, Catalina State Park and Sabino Canyon.

The Biosphere 2 is the world's largest science center dedicated to exporing life on Earth. You may remember the Biosphere 2 when in the early 1990's a project included the housing of 8 Biospherians, as they were referred to, for a 2 year period. They remained in the Biosphere for the entire time, raising their food, composting their waste and studying the effects of atmospheric changes on recreated global areas of ocean, desert, savannah's, tropical rain forest and wetlands. Although the media at that time reported the project to be a failure, the scientist proclaim it was highly successful based on the knowledge they retrieved. Part of the tour included viewing the 3+ acre Technosphere where the mechanical systems are housed. The Technosphere is where the air is heated or cooled, humidity levels are maintained and where they can generate rain, fog & supply the ocean. Just to recreate the ocean required bringing in 750 gallons of salt water. Pretty impressive.


Biosphere 2 - 7.2 million cubic feet of sealed glass with 6,500 windows.

We enjoyed the Tohono Chul Park which is Tucsons' equivalent of the Missouri Botanical Gardens. Of course their native plants are primarily cactus. I'll spare you this time and not post any pictures, your probably all sick of seeing cactus.

Our ride to Catalina State Park was two fold. They have a campground there that we wanted to check out for a future stay. The campground is surrounded by the Catalina Mountains and makes a very nice setting. The second reason is we wanted to see the park before they close it. Arizona has a 1.6 billion dollar deficit and one of their many cutbacks is to close 21 of their 30 state parks. At this time this park is earmarked to be closed unless they can come up with another way to fund it. As it is they charge a $6.00 entry fee. I'm not use to having to pay to use a state park like Babler, but I guess you pay to see the mountains???

Arizona has also closed several of their interstate rest areas. We were spoiled coming through Texas with a rest area every 100 miles and even New Mexico had an adequate number. We use a publication named "Exit Now" which gives you every rest area, truck stop, fuel stop, restaurants etc by exit number. Of course this resource was printed before the state of Arizona decided to close their rest areas. We like to stop often to change drivers, eat lunch or just take a short walk. It really played havoc with my planning when every other rest area was closed.

We toured Sabino Canyon with friends - Tom & Sue, we met at the Escapees meeting in Gila Bend. They sold their house in Maryland and are renting a condo in Tucson as they try to decide if they want to buy an RV. Although we picked a rainy, chilly day it was still a nice 45 minute tram ride through the canyon. Most of the time it is dry, but they have had enough rain and melted snow from Mtn Lemmon that the washes were overflowing onto the road.


Sabino Canyon rock formations


Felt fortunate that there was water running through the canyon. Makes such a pretty and peaceful site.


Parts of the trip was a little scary with the narrow road and drop offs.


Tom, Sue Ron & Joan

After our tour to the canyon we joined Tom & Sue at their condo's potluck dinner. Not sure we were suppose to be there as non owners or renters but we went anyway...had dinner, meet a few people and had a nice evening.

Hope all is well!

Joan & Ron

Tucson

We arrived in Tucson a week ago - only a 70 mile trip from Casa Grande. On the way we stopped to fill the coach and give it it's first bath. We had tried cleaning it a couple of times but it is not an easy chore. Plus most of the campsites prohibit washing your car or coach at the spot. Of course they do allow commercial companies in the park but they charge at least $5.00 per foot so for us it would cost over $200. We stopped at an RV/Truck wash in Eloy just outside of Casa Grande and on the way to Tucson.

It looks much better and they were able to get all the mud off the jacks that were buried 6 inches in the wet ground from the rain a couple of weeks ago.

Set up home again, visited with our neighbors for a little while, went to dinner then called it a day. It was tiring watching them wash the RV.

We will be in Tucson for 1 month and are looking forward to the relaxation.

Hope all is well!

Joan & Ron

We Liked Casa Grande...

Our primary reason for staying in Casa Grande was to visit with Carmel & Mel. However, we were pleasantly surprised by the amount of activity at the RV Resort. This site is primarily occupied by park models - or little houses with space to park an RV if you have one. The houses are 1 or 2 bedrooms, bath, small living area & kitchen. It's a way for people to economically stay in an area for a longer period of time - like the snowbirds and not have to stay in your coach. Although I do think many no longer own an RV and live here year round. The resort has a nice ballroom and books shows from as far away as Branson. We were able to hear a few songs by the Branson Brothers - not a big name but we enjoyed their Ozark-style of music....reminded us of home. Of course, other activities are bingo, zingo, shuffleboard (can't forget shuffleboard), billiards etc. We were also impressed by the size of the town. The population is around 33,000, but it has most of the big box stores besides a decent mall with Dillards and an outlet mall. We would stay here again in the future.

We did a little sightseeing. One day we went to the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. It is one of the largest prehistoric structures in North America built by the Hohokam people and its purpose, to this day, remains a mystery. Archaeologists discovered evidence that the ancient Sonoran Desert People who built the Casa Grande ("big house") also developed irrigation farming and trade which lasted over 1000 years. The window & doorways align with the sun or moon at significant times of the year. The Hohokam devised a calendar system based on the movements of the sun and moon and incorporated that knowledge into their architecture. But to this day no one knows to what use they put this information. It was abandoned in the mid 1450's by the desert people who left no written language behind, so most historic accounts began with visits and archaeological digs journaled by American explorers as early as 1600's.


Casa Grande Ruins - part of the National Monument system


We also drove the Apache Trail. The trail is a 100 mile loop with the most beautiful scenery surrounding the Superstitious Mountains. It has been rated by Frommers as the "most scenic drive in Arizona". The views are more magnificent at each turn and the pictures really don't do it justice. We only drove 33 miles since the rest of the mountain roads are not paved and still had some standing water from the recent rains. Within that distance we stopped at the Goldfield Mines & Ghost Town - supposedly an authentic town that was booming in the late 1800's. If it truly was a real town it was awesome to walk the streets just like Matt Dillion & Miss Kitty.

We also, stopped at Tortilla Flats, a small Incorporated community that is the last surviving stagecoach stop along the Apache Trail. It is also the smallest community to have a working U.S. Post Office and voters precinct with a population of 6. Yes that is not a typo...total population is six. Currently there is a restaurant, gift shop, ice cream & candy parlour.

Another stop was at Canyon Lake & Marina were we stopped for lunch. We had to sit outside to reap the benefit of the beautiful lake but it was a little chilly...no wonder we've had 3 colds in 3 months!


Canyon Lake & Superstitious Mountains


Ate lunch at the Lakeside Restaurant overlooking Canyon Lake


Onward to Tucson...again.

Hope all is well!

Joan & Ron

Another nice day in Arizona, although the forecast is for some rain later in the week. Ron's fighting a cold....one I had a few days ago and felt obligated to share. Since he was not feeling well I met Carmel & Mel at the Casa Grande Trap Club to watch Mel practice for an upcoming tournament. I had never seen trap shooting and found it rather interesting.

We had lunch at the Cracker Barrel and agreed to meet up again the end of the month while they are in Tucson for the tournament. We will be in Tucson for the month of February.

I really like living in the RV and most of the campgrounds. And also like the opportunity to see different places and attractions. But I don't like moving everyday or even every week. So I am looking forward to our month stay in Tucson.

While at the Escapees Boot Camp last week we met a couple who sold their home in Maryland and are trying to decide if they want to do the RV thing or just relocate to a warmer climate. They too will be in Tucson and we are looking forward to meeting up with them and visiting with Carmel and Mel one more time.

Did some shopping and returned a RedBox DVD. I never was much of a movie goer...always felt there were other things I should be doing. But now that I have more time we like using RedBox to rent our movies. The rental fee is $1.00 per day but it is so convenient that we can rent them in one town and return them in another. If you like movies and haven't tried RedBox, try one...I bet you'll like it!

Hopefully Ron will feel better tomorrow, there are a few things we would still like to see while here.

Hope all is well!