Desert Trails RV Park, Tucson, AZ

It’s hard to believe that we’ve been in one place for over two weeks!  We checked into Desert Trails RV Park on the 13^th of November and are planning to stay here through the 13^th of January.  We weren’t sure at first if this would be a place we’d enjoy.  There isn’t’ much space between you and your neighbor and the lots are all gravel.  We met the neighbors behind us the first day.  They are avid mountain bikers.  The first thing they asked us is how long we would be staying.  We told them through mid-January.  They asked where we are going next.  When we told them we would be in Casa Grande, they were surprised.  Over the first few days here, we found that most people would be here for 4-6 months.

 

The park is southeast of the Tucson city limits and snuggled up to one of two Saguaro national parks.  Hiking/biking trails begin at the edge of the park.  Also, it is very quiet at night and we can hear owls calling to each other and coyotes howling.  There is also a creature here that is new to us.  They are called Javelinas and typically like to go through the park at night scavenging for anything they can pillage like, garbage, flowers, etc.  We haven’t seen them yet, but both our neighbors have seen them roving through the park at night.  We’ve been told they have very sharp teeth and when threatened will bite.  Another thing we’ve learned about the wildlife is to scout the perimeter of the dog run for rattlers.  A resident of the park said it would cost around $1,500 to have a dog treated for rattle snake bite.  Yikes!.  Needless to say, we are careful to keep an eye out for both these creatures when taking Bear out.

Shootout at Old Tucson



You can see that I misbehaved at Old Tucson

On Saturday the 21st, we went to the biggest tourist trap around call “Old Tucson Studios”.  Over 300 old westerns were filmed there by the likes of John Wayne, Burt Reynolds and Clint Eastwood.  We watched some stunt actors explain how the original stunts were performed by the actors, a sheriff explained how he handled the bad guys and a judge explain how justice was handled in the early days of the West.  All in all, it was a one-time fun event.



Mission San Zavier del Bac

We also visited Mission San Zavier del Bac. See San Xavier del Bac Mission .  This is the oldest intact European structure in Arizona.  It is currently being renovated but still holds mass everyday in the morning and early evening.

We finally found a couple breweries in Tucson and it wasn’t an easy task.  “Ten 55” is a very small nano-brewery nestled in an industrial area.  They strictly brew beer (i.e. no food) but the brews are pretty good (see http://1055brewing.com/). We also found Barrio Brewing (http://barriobrewing.com/).  They have good food but are a bit snobbish about their ho-hum beers.  We brought our Ten Barrel growler along in case we wanted to get some fresh brew and the bartender said they have a policy that they don’t fill growlers other than their own.  Ooooo.  I thought that’s like biting the hand that feeds you. However he did “make an exception” for us since we’re from Bend.  We purchased a growler of their IPA.

Katherine and Mike and Ten 55

Last night was karaoke in the event hall.  I’m a bit shy when it comes to singing in front of people (although some of my Bend Research buddies might argue with that).  But, yours truly got up and sang 5 songs, two were duets with my recently made buddy (i.e. meaning last night on the stage), Nancy.  It didn’t matter how badly you sound, almost everyone who came took a turn.  It was hilarious fun!

Another Tucson, AZ Sunset

The weather today is supposed to be sunny and 76 degrees.  Guess I’ll be playing bocce ball with shorts and flip flops.

Tucson trivia:  An Irishman, Don Hugo O’Connor, founded the Spanish city of Tucson. He was an Irish expatriate hired by the Spanish Empire to upgrade frontier defenses against Apache raids and Pima discontent. He visited Tucson in August, 1775, and seeing that it was a strategic location, ordered that it become the Spanish military presidio.

 

 

 

Mojave Desert

10Nov2014

It’s really hard to believe that it’s been 11 days since the last blog.  It seems like a lot longer. 

After we left Calistoga, we headed to Mojave, CA, a 4-hour drive, with the intent of staying 2 nights.  We drove through huge groves of Joshua trees (sorry, I didn’t get any pictures).  We arrived at 1:00 pm to check in only to find a note on the door of the office that said it’s closed between Noon and 2:00 pm.  We pulled our rig to the side of the road and hoped it was out of the way enough.  We looked around the park while we waiting and decided to if it worked out, we would just stay one night.  I called ahead to Needles, CA to see if we might be able to check in a day early.  When told yes, we settled on just one night in Mojave. 

We noted that the main part of the park had back-in spots which I had been told when making reservations were the only spots that had full hook ups but that our rig length would fit.  Actual observance told us that the park road was too narrow with palm trees close in around the spots.  It would take a lot of jiggering to get Big Mamma Gypsy settled in.  At check-in we asked if pull-through might be available (water and electric only) and opted for that.

There were a number of reasons we wanted to move on.

1. It was too late to consider of moving on because the next stop was another 4 hours down the road and we had already driven 4 hours that day.
2. Also, the altitude is at about 2700 feet and it gets cold really fast when the sun goes down.
3. What confirmed that we made the right decision is that the only places to eat were fast food and Denny's  Not being a fan of either, we found a local Mexican restaurant where the food was okay and the beer cheap ($1.25 for a bottle of Corona).

Big Mama Gypsy in Needles

The following morning, we hooked up the Jeep and headed to Needles to the Palm River Resort.  The road signs on the way there advertise it as “5 star”.  We think that that acclaim is stretching it a bit.  Our lot is a pull through and is on pea gravel which is a relief after being on soft ground or rotting leaves but we have no shade.

The park provides some activities.  On Wednesday we played bingo with a group of about 10 people.  Each game was $.25 so Mike and I played a couple of cards each game.  We spent a total of $6.00 for 6 games but came out ahead because I won twice so we ended up with $8.50.  Woo hoo!  Nothing like earning money for fun entertainment.  There is a pool and hot tub on site.  The pool isn’t heated.  I think the idea is if you REALLY want to swim, you swim first then jump in the hot tub.

 

Both Needles and Mojave are very depressed areas.  However, we did find a really nice dog park only a couple of miles away and have been taking Bear every morning before it gets too hot.  There’s nothing more relaxing than a tired dog sleeping at your feet.

We also realized if we didn’t want to eat salt-laden food every day we would have to take our diet into our own hands.  The nearest grocery store is across the river in Bullhead, City, AZ.  Now we have what we need and can eat healthier!  The biggest challenge is trying to determine what groceries will be needed and the time in which you can use them up (I hate wasting food).

Two days ago we hired an RV repair person to help locate/repair a mysterious leak under the sink that started some 2-3 weeks ago.  Over this period of time I’ve tried sealing any suspicious joint with E-Z Weld 222 (a wet weld PVC cement) and have been using a cake pan to capture the leak.  To no avail, every morning/evening there would be a puddle in the pan.  Grrrr.  So, Mr. Repair Man spent about 45 minutes trying to find the leak.  Nope.  He couldn’t find it either was really baffled.  He tightened everything he could find and so fart hat has solved the problem.  We’ll find out whether it “sticks” during upcoming travel.  Everyone we talk to about full-time RVing says, “Just remember.  It’s a big box moving down the road.” 

We found one historic site in Needles.  It is the El Garces Hotel.  It has been restored but has a "for lease" sign on it so we were only able to look in the windows.



El Garces Historical Building (Front)

El Garces Historical Building (Back Side)

Relaxing on the deck in Bullhead City, AZ

We’ve taken a couple of side trips just to explore.  We went to Lake Havasu, AZ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Havasu) where you can practically smell BIG money.  We also went to Bullhead City, AZ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullhead_City,_Arizona) where we found a small place to grab a bite to eat and enjoy the mountain views.  We also decided to wander up to Laughlin, NV (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laughlin,_Nevada).  It’s like a mini Las Vegas.  I lost $2 there on the penny slot machines.

Casino in Laughlin, NV

One more day in Needles and then we’ll stop for two days in Tonopah, AZ.  So far, all we’ve been able to find as an attraction there is a natural hot springs and I’m sure we’ll have to check it out.

Sorry for being short on pictures.  And, oh, we didn’t realize when we visited Laughlin that Tim McGraw was going to be there that evening.

I’m still missing all my friends in Bend.  Be sure to write or, better yet, send pictures!

Trivia:  Do you know what famous cartoonist spent some time living in Needles from 1928 - 1930?  Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Needles,_California and go to "notable people" at the bottom.