The fun begins - Tucson style

Sunset in Tucson

On Saturday night we watched the late news and the anchors were muttering something about the moderate drought being suffered in Tucson.

Joan and I had almost the identical thought as soon as the anchors mentioned drought.

“Have no fear, the Smiths are here.”  If our record holds people will be swimming to work within a week.

At church Sunday morning the pastor noted that the congregation had grown since last week and invited anyone who had just arrived out of the “Polar Vortex” to stand up. Because we qualified, we stood along with about 30 other people.

“Now, everyone else stand up greet each other and tell those poor folks how happy we are they made it here to be with us.”

It was a nice welcome and the church service was great. With thousands of people here, the church service draws a crowd of about 500 in peak season and there are some very talented musicians and singers here.

Dirty Tahoe

After church we finished setting up the trailer and I spent a little time with a resort maintenance man stopping an annoying leak in the water spigot that serves our site. He was very nice and insisted I stop helping because “you are dressed for church.”

In our first 24 hours we were becoming increasingly concerned about a lack of hot water from our hot water heater. It has been slowly warming but quickly cools off. I spent some time “under the hood” looking at the water heater, but could see nothing amiss.

Joan had dollar signs swimming in her head thinking we were going to have to replace the water heater when it occurred to me that even when you drain the tanks and clear the lines there is still 2-3 gallons of water in the 7-gallon tank, which is OK to freeze without harming the equipment.

A light bulb went off and I got to thinking that an ice cube 3 gallons in size might take a while to thaw even in the temperate zone. The water has continued to increase in heat so I think I solved a plumbing problem the best way possible. Without doing any plumbing!

Clean Tahoe

Sunday afternoon Joan went shopping to restock our trailer. Part of the economy of living in the trailer is that we can cook our own meals and not spend money on expensive restaurants. Joan loves cooking and has mastered the small kitchen in the trailer.

While she was shopping I drove to a nearby u-do-it-yourself car wash and washed half of Michigan and Indiana off the Tahoe. Tomorrow I will wash the windows and the car will almost be back to normal. While Joan imagines conversations between a mouse couple I imagine what my car is thinking.

What I think the Tahoe is thinking is “I hate pulling that humungous ship anchor once a year, but I really like being out of that cold and snow.” At least that’s what I think it’s saying.

So Monday morning I was up early and went to the gym and Joan went to her water aerobics class.

Back home we spent some more time organizing the trailer and I finished washing the windows of the Tahoe and setting up our outdoor furniture and mat.

My Spartan boo-boo bandage

While doing the latter I sliced open the back of my and which gave me my first opportunity to use my Spartan band aids that were a birthday present from my sister Laura. If she would have waited two weeks she could have purchased the “Rose Bowl Champion Spartan” band aids. But these are good, nonetheless.

As of Sunday, we have seen no trace of the mouse or meeses but still plan to take some precautions to make sure that they are either gone, or that if they are still here that they won’t be here for long.

I have a “live and let live” rule about critters. As long as you are living in your habitat, I leave you alone. But when you trespass into my habitat then something drastic is going to happen – to you.

In addition to a very early morning workout in the fitness center, some minor housekeeping chores Sunday was spent getting our official resort photograph taken for our permanent ID card and watching playoff football.

A morning walk in the mountains

Monday was more organization and we had the resident RV guy come to the trailer because our heater wasn’t working. My first thought that I was out of propane, but the propane stove worked so that didn’t seem to be the problem. So we called an expert.

Forty bucks later I found out my first indication was correct. We were out of propane. The furnace just needs a lot more pressure to light and stay lit than the stove. Because we were out $40 for the service call I had him check the still leaking (slightly) faucet and he fixed that.

We strolled over to the activity office and purchased tickets to some coming events and concerts here at the park so we are now officially booked through the end of the month.

Because we had no propane, or were worried it would run out in mid-meal we did a redo on Sunday night’s sandwich and salad dinner, which required no cooking at all. After dinner we headed over to the small Internet café and caught up on electronic mail.

Back at the trailer the desert cold was setting in and without a furnace we turned on the electric fireplace which kept us warm enough until bedtime and we hid under blankets and on top of our heated mattress cover for a really good night’s sleep.

Lunch on a rock

Tuesday morning brought me to my first major hike of the season – The Sutherland Trail and Canyon Loop – in the Catalina Mountains. I’ll put a few photos below this post so you can see some of the vistas. There was a large turnout for the hike as more and more people are arriving in the park.

The hike was a little more than 8 miles with a couple steep parts, but mostly a slight incline, with a corresponding slight decline. Remember the rule, what goes up, must come down. A rule that apparently does not apply to taxes or gas prices.

Last year the one drawback to this place was the lousy Internet service they offer here. Not only lousy, but expensive. They charge separately for each device and with Joan and I using separate computers the bill was $60 a month. Did I mention it was lousy service.

So tonight we are picking up a “Straight Talk” wireless hotspot for the trailer. Basically this is a pay-as-you-go system where you don’t sign a contract but purchase just the gigabytes you need. Hopefully it will result in better service for less money. We’ll see.

Also last night we attended our first dinner potluck and Joan made her patented cranberry meatballs which are always a huge hit.

Look for another blog post around Saturday.