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......