January 23 - 26, 2015 (Catalina State Park, AZ)

Friday

We were lifting our jacks and heading down the road today and wouldn't you know it, we had wind again.  Rats....the wind sure doesn't help our fuel economy, good thing the diesel prices are lower than they have been.  We took our time packing up this morning since we couldn't check into Catalina State Park until 2:00 p.m.  

We finally hit the road around 10:30 a.m. and have approximately a 3.5 hour drive.  We did decide to stop at Gila Bend and top off the diesel tank because the wind had taken our miles per gallon down to around 7.....yikes we normally get around 11-12 mpg.  The truck stop had some interesting metal sculptures.....

Rich & Gracie standing with the triceratops....this dinosaur was Rich's son Jeff's favorite dinosaur when he was a kid....so Jeff, this pictures for you! 

We arrived at Catalina State Park around 2:30 p.m. and got set up in our beautiful site.  We just love the view of the mountains from our back window.  We could only get 4 nights here because the park stays full during the winter months, we were amazed that we got such an amazing view site.

Catalina State Park with the Santa Catalina Mountains in the background

We don't have full hookups, just electric and water so we'll have to go easy on our showers and water consumption so we don't have to dump our black tank before we head out.  This will be the longest that we have gone without full hookups since we've been on the road the last two years.

Saturday

The forecast today was for wind, but here in the park it wasn't windy at all.  The plan this morning was to drive up to Saddlebrooke Ranch and look at the new building lots that just opened up.  Wow was it ever windy at Saddlebrooke, we couldn't believe the difference.  

After our tour at Saddlebrooke, we came back to the 5er and had a bit of lunch.  We decided since it wasn't windy here at the park that we would take one of the hikes.  We decided to hike to the Montrose Pools and then around the Canyon Trail which was about a 3.3 mile hike.  I'll let the pictures do the talking.....

How fun, water in the desert, we had to cross this stream which was very shallow

View of the stream after we crossed and climbed a hill

Saguaro along the trail

Me and Gracie hiking the trail

View from above of the Montrose Pools

More cactus....

another view along the trail

Rich and Gracie resting beside the stream, it was so nice to be hiking around water

Me fishing some shiny rocks out of the stream bed

See how big the saguaro cactus are?

More saguaro cactus

Sign at the end of the trail....good thing we always keep Gracie on a leash.

We really enjoyed our afternoon hiking.  We really enjoy the Tucson area and the desert, it is so much greener than around Lake Havasu where we spent last winter.  The Yuma area is different because they have all the farming, but the desert isn't all that pretty either to our eyes.  I think snow birds like the Yuma area because of the much warmer temps in that area compared to other areas of Arizona this time of year.

Sunday

We attended the same little church that we had several weeks ago when we were in the area.  For a small church, they have a lot going on in the community.

After church we headed to Costco to stock up on a few items that we like to purchase only at Costco.  And of course we had to have lunch there, were else can you get such a reasonable lunch...today we decided on a slice of pizza...yummy.  After we got stocked up at Costco we drove back to the park.  The one thing about the Tucson area is they don't have the best road system and traffic can get pretty heavy and today was no exception.

After we got our groceries put away, we hopped on our bikes and took a bike ride around the park and checked out all the different areas.  They have an equestrian area, several different picnic areas and a camping overflow area.  We stopped and talked to the camp hosts at the overflow area for a bit, they were from Alaska and this was their second year as camp hosts here at the park.  Apparently after April, the park visitors drop way down though they do keep the campgrounds open, I guess it gets too hot.  The temps now are very comfortable....high 60's to low 70's.

Monday

After a morning of various phone calls we grabbed a bite and headed off to do some more shopping.  We needed to get Gracie some more chew treats at Petco and we wanted to stock up at Trader Joe's.  We love to get the aloe vera juice and cranberry juice from them because they are so reasonably priced as well as a few other goodies.  We hadn't been around a Costco or Trader Joe's since we left Oregon in the fall.

What was left of the afternoon, we just spent chilling out in our lawn chairs.  We did chat with our neighbors who were from the San Juan Island in Washington.  It's always fun to hear about other people's adventures.  Tomorrow we head further south, so more adventures to come.  Until then, I'll leave you with a picture of the beautiful sunset on our last night here at Catalina State Park.  We would definitely come back to this park.

January 14-22, 2015 (Yuma, AZ)

We are winding down our time here in Yuma.  The last couple of weeks were just more of the same, exercising in the morning, taking Gracie for walks, reading, just the normal relaxing routine we've been enjoying the last couple of months.  We did tackle waxing the pickup and the 5er.  Waxing the 5er is a BIG job but one that we have taken on every six months.  Down here, you can purchase a wax job for around $150 for your RV,and it looks like they do an OK job, but we still choose to do it ourselves.

We did do a bit of visiting.  Our daughter-in-law's parents winter down in here in Yuma and we were invited to dinner one night.  We had a very enjoyable visit and enjoyed the tour that they gave us of their RV park.  Their park is right next to the Mexican border and the Colorado River and has it's own golf course. 

Neil, Janette & Kelly standing at the 18th hole

Here is the "mighty" Colorado River as it gets ready to enter into Mexico.  This picture is taken at the Cocopah RV & Golf Resort.  The river is very shallow here.

  

Rich's sister Madeline and her friend Roger came from Palm Desert for a visit.  Unfortunately we forgot to take any pictures.  The day they came for a visit was a very windy day, though it was still warm outside.  We were eating taco soup sitting outside and the wind would blow our tortilla chips out of the soup.  We really enjoyed our visit, we just sat around and visited for hours.  We did take them for a little tour of our park but other than that we just sat around and chatted. 

We have really enjoyed our time here at The Palms.  It truly is a very nice park with lots of amenities and activities.  It will be fun to see some other parts of Arizona.  The one thing we won't miss in the Yuma area is the occasional sewer smell.  Apparently the area has grown so fast and depending on the wind direction, you get a sewer smell from the sewer holding ponds or whatever they are called. 

Our next post will be from Catalina State Park in the north Tucson area.  Until then.......

January 2-13, 2015 (Yuma & Tucson, AZ)

We've had a pretty relaxing and laid back couple of weeks.  Pretty much just the normal every day stuff that we find ourselves doing down here:  exercising in the morning, walking around the park, chores around the 5er, etc.  The weather has been cooler, so I haven't been spending time at the pool.  We did take a couple excursions which I will highlight in this post.

The first one was a drive out to Lake Martinez which is about 30 minutes from the RV resort.  It was a pretty day for a drive and it was fun to see some new country.  There was a little community along the lake with vacation type houses and some dry camping along the lake.  We checked out the visitor center which had some interesting displays. 

View from a viewing tower at the visitor center - Lake Martinez in the background. 

Gracie and me "chillin" on one of the docks around the lake.

Some of the nicer vacation houses around the lake.

There are a couple of nice hikes in the Lake Martinez area so we will probably take another trip back and check out a trail or two.  We weren't prepared to do much hiking the day we were there.

The other fun adventure we had was we took another "mini" vacation over to the Tucson area and stayed at our favorite resort community of Saddlebrooke Ranch by Robson Resort Community.  If you've been following our blog for awhile, you will remember that last year we visited a couple of their communities and Saddlebrooke Ranch was our favorite and still is. 

Last Thursday Rich checked with the sales rep we've worked with in the past to see if they had any special pricing on their guest stays and found out that they had an opening for a 4 day/3night stay starting on Friday.  So we took them up on it and packed up our bags and drove the 3.5 hours to North Tucson.  We left the 5er here in Yuma which was nice because last year we had it with us and they let us park it behind their construction office.  The only problem with that was there was no power available so we had to pack up the refrigerator/freezer.  On our drive to Saddlebrooke Ranch we took a different route than last year because we didn't have the 5er and came across this beautiful area once we left I-10 about 15 minutes from the resort.  This is one reason we enjoy the Tucson area, it is much prettier and has more "greenery" than the Lake Havasu and Yuma area deserts.

Isn't this a cool looking cactus?

Look at all the different types of cactus - it is unusual to see this many together

this poor cactus had toppled over but was still blooming. 

We really enjoyed our stay at Saddlebrooke Ranch, it really is a lovely community and the people are so very friendly.  It makes it very tempting to consider buying a home in the southwest.  Part of the guest stay requires you to tour their model homes which are very well done.  When we were there last year they were opening up a new section of their resort and we couldn't believe how many new homes they had already built since last April.  You also have the use of all the amenities, they have an amazing clubhouse and a beautiful outdoor swimming pool which for several weeks in January they don't heat because of the cooler temps, so no outdoor swimming.  They also have a nice indoor lap pool, an amazing fitness center with modern up to date equipment, I could go on and on but just suffice it to say, they have wonderful amenities which also includes a championship 18 hole golf course. 

They put you up in one of the actual homes within the community so you get a feel of what it would really be like if you purchased a home.  We actually got to stay in the same home that we were in last year which was fun.  They also send you out to dinner on their dime and they have another couple from the community as your hosts.  We had a lovely dinner with our host couple:  Gary & Mary.  They were originally from Orange County, CA and answered a lot of questions about the community.  We think the hosted dinner is a really good idea as it lets you ask questions without feeling like you are being pressured to purchase.  Which I have to say, our sales rep has been wonderful and never makes us feel pressured.  She doesn't have to since the houses and community seem to sell themselves.  This year our hosted dinner was at the Preserve clubhouse, which is situated at the base of the Santa Catalina mountains and has an amazing view.  The food was so very good, Rich had beef medallions and I had scallops....yummy. 

On Sunday after attending a small church in the area, we drove down the road and checked out the Catalina State Park.  The camping area was booked full, they have a section with electric and water hookups that the 5er would fit in, looks like a place we should check out.  They also have some hiking trails in the area.  After our stay in Yuma we will have to come back and check out the camping/hiking. 

We really enjoyed our stay and can't say enough good things about the community.  If you were interested in living in the southwest, we would highly recommend this community.  Here are some pics from our trip.

Catalina State Park view

Gracie & Me chilling out in the living room of our guest stay house at Saddlebrooke Ranch

View off the patio of our guest stay house - the 11th hole tee box is the patch of green.

Gracie & Me enjoying some sunshine on the patio

Monday, we had to pack up and head back to Yuma, our mini vacation was over.  We had a nice drive back to Yuma.  We did stop in Dateland for one of their famous date shakes.  This is just a small town along the freeway out in the middle of the desert - not much around except for a date orchard.  I have to say that so far I think the date shakes at Martha's Garden here in Yuma tasted better, but these were still very yummy.

Today we checked out a local breakfast place that we've been hearing about....Daybreakers.  It's a truck stop cafe and we were told it's the place to go for a good breakfast.  We enjoyed our breakfast, but I think the little breakfast cafes we liked in Lake Havasu and Lyons had better food.  It was still fun to check it out though. 

Here at the resort they had an "open house" for one of their new homes they just finished building and during breakfast Rich got a call on his cell inviting us to attend so of course we had to go take a look.  This particular model was a 2 story with an outdoor spiral staircase up to the second floor where there was a guest bedroom, outdoor kitchen and patio area.  The main floor had a nice living space but the master bedroom seemed a little on the small side.  I'm not sure in a retirement community of 55+ that the spiral staircase to the second floor was a good idea and that seemed to be the comment of several of the other attendees also.  I like the look of spiral staircases, but this one was pretty tight and I'm not sure how easy it would be to haul your groceries up the stairs to utilize the outdoor kitchen.  Also when you compare what they were asking for this house compared to what you could get in Saddlebrooke Ranch, in our book there was no comparison - Saddlebrooke Ranch wins hands down.  As we were leaving the open house, this lady stopped us and said they were selling their house did we want to come and look.  Well why not.....so off we went.  It was a very nice house, much bigger than it appeared from the street and was a very good value since they were selling it with most the furnishings.  They were a very nice couple and come to find out also own a lot and casita at Lake Havasu at the same resort where we spent last winter.  We enjoyed visiting with them and viewing their home.

Well that wraps up our adventures over the last couple of weeks.  We'll see what the next couple of weeks brings.  Until then......

December 4 - January 1, 2015 (Yuma, OR, WA)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

I can't hardly believe that a month has gone by since I've posted to our blog and now it is January 1, 2015.  Time does have a way of passing by doesn't it?  Since it's been a month since I've posted, I'll just recap some highlights of the last month.

This was a visitor to our 5er one sunny day.  Gracie so wanted to go over to it and play, but we were more interested in getting a picture before it decided to leave....

Roadrunner...I always thought they would be a bigger bird...I guess from my childhood cartoon days of Wiley Coyote and the roadrunner.

A picture of one of the many beautiful sunsets we see down here in Arizona.





The Palms is a very pet friendly RV park.  They have two very nice off leash dog parks as well as some other green space for your pets.  They also host a Christmas Pet Parade so of course we had to dress Gracie up in her Christmas dress and join the parade.

Gracie in the center of the pic saying hi to several dogs her size

Gracie with Santa, she wasn't cooperating for a good photo oportunity, she was too busy checking everything out

Gracie and me walking in the parade around the park

Group photo, we are at the end.  I included this photo even though it doesn't show all the dogs because Rich liked the husky that was next to us.

The Palms also has a Christmas light decorating contest and people here take it quite seriously.  It was amazing the amount of work that some people went to...of course the seasons worth of free concert tickets might have been part of the incentive.  We enjoyed walking around in the evenings checking out all the pretty lights.  It really was quite lovely and festive.  Though there were quite a few inflatable Christmas decorations which really surprised me.  Since we are not a fan of the inflatables we didn't include any of those in our pictures.   

 



This was the view out the back of our 5er window

 





 

On the 16th of December we headed out on a road trip back to Oregon and Washington to celebrate Christmas with family and help Jessica and Garry move into their new home.  Because of the falling fuel prices we penciled out renting a car vs. driving up in the dually and decided to go with the rental car.  We left early in the morning  to time our travel to miss the commute traffic in the LA area.  Our 2 day journey took us up I-5 with a nights stay north of Sacramento in Williams, CA.  Boy Rich and I both got a lesson in California freeway driving.  The drivers are so very rude and they drive so fast and close to your bumper, it was awful, we just couldn't get over how unsafe and rude they were. 

 

We made it safe and sound to my mom's and spent several days enjoying visiting my mom and other family.  The Pacific Northwest had experienced quite a bit of rain, so the creek was pretty high for this time of year, but it sure was pretty.

 

We also got to spend some time with our new grandson Elijah.  Amber and Norm and Elijhah came up to mom's for pizza one night and then mom and I got to babysit Elijah one day. 

Great Grandma with Elijah....love those smiles.  =)

Great Grandma doing what Grandma's do best...reading stories.  Cookie and Misty (her two puppies) are wondering why they aren't sitting on mom's lap, their normal spot when she is sitting in her chair.

Grandma and Elijah

After several days at mom's we hit the road to head to Washington to visit with more family and celebrate another grandsons birthday, celebrate Christmas and help Jessica and Garry move.  We didn't do very well with taking pictures while we were in Washington. 

 

Cameron with his Seattle Seahawks cake pops birthday cake, he turned 11.  His younger brother, Calvin is standing behind him. 

Cameron was born on Christmas eve so after his birthday party, we got to attend Christmas eve church service at Tidelands, the church that Brandon pastors.  It was a beautiful candlelit service and we are glad we got to be part of it.  We  We spent Christmas morning with Jessica and Garry and then we all went up to Brandon & Kris' house for Christmas dinner.  Kris' parents were also there, so we got to spend time getting to know them better.  They also spend the winters in Yuma, so were sharing some pointers on the area.  We had a lovely prime rib dinner.  It was a very enjoyable Christmas and we felt blessed to be able to share it with family. 

After Christmas, it was time to get Jessica and Garry moved into their new home.  They had been renting a home just down the street from the one they just purchased, so the move distance was very short.  The home they purchased is very lovely and I'm sorry we didn't get any pictures except the one below.  The first day moving, I spent priming and painting the bedroom wall while Rich and Garry moved alot of the furniture.  The second day we had some of Jessica and Garry's friends and neighbors helping.  So after only two days, they were completely moved out of their rental home and into their new home.  We also were able to get the rental home all cleaned on the second day.  Now their work begins, putting everything away.  =)

Me on ladder and Jessica prepping the wall for a new coat of paint.  I can't believe we didn't get a picture of the new paint color - it was teal and turned out very pretty.

Since the house move went so well and the weather report was changing with some snow forecast for the mountains, we decided to head back to Yuma a day early.  We hit the road for a 3 day road trip back to Yuma.  Our first day was the shortest because we stopped and spent the night at mom's so it wasn't a full travel day.  The next two days, were both long and stressful because we were back to those rude California drivers.  We decided to cut over to Bakersfield on the way down and bypass the LA traffic.  I'm happy to report that we made it back to Yuma all in one piece.  We were very glad to be back to our little home after living out of a suitcase for a couple weeks.  It sure felt good to sleep in our own bed. 

 

Because we were back a day early, we checked on getting tickets to the New Years Eve party that The Palms hosts and were told they were sold out but they would take our name and if there were any cancellations they would let us know.  We no sooner got back to the 5er and got a call that 2 tickets were just turned in....yahoo, that worked out well for us. This was the first year that they did an actual dinner we found out, and we thought they did a very fine job.  They had a nice prime rib and lemon chicken buffet.  The food was quite good.  For dessert they had a chocolate fondue fountain that you could dip rice krispy treats or marshmellows or strawberries.  They also had chocolate chip cookies.  Very yummy.  The band for the dancing played some good dancing music and the musicians/singers were quite good.   We had a very enjoyable evening eating and dancing and getting to know some of the couples in the park.  The Palms has a high percentage of Canadians so we were surprised that the couples seated at our table were all from the states.  We had a couple from Virginia, a couple from northern Idaho, a couple from Seattle area and a couple from Utah.  So after spending about 3 hours dancing, we rang in the New Year with the traditional noise makers and balloons and all the hoopla that goes along with reaching the New Year. 

 

 

Rich and Kelly in their New Year finery....

 

Today, January 1st is a nice relaxing day at home.  We had a leisurely morning with a nice walk around the park with Gracie.  It's very cold here today, and we noticed that some of the bushes/flowers in the park were nipped by frost last night, including my pot of geraniums that I just hauled up north and back so they wouldn't die while we were gone...sigh.  Hopefully they will recover.  Rich is watching the Rose Bowl with the Oregon Ducks and Florida State....go Ducks! and I'm catching the blog up. 

 

We both wish you all a very Happy and Blessed 2015.