The Eagle has landed - in Tucson

Bottom line - We made it safely to Tucson and life is good. Temperatures are warm, we are wearing shorts and all is well.

The day started early in Flagstaff and after our preparatory work last night we made quick work of hooking up the trailer and heading down the hill to Tucson.

Our winter home

Weather was a challenge as it was only 11 degrees when we arrived at the storage lot, but with most of the work done all I had to do was back up the Tahoe to the trailer and hook up. My hands were still pretty chilly by the time I was done because some of the work cannot be done with gloves on.

The trip to Tucson was uneventful and traffic through Phoenix was mercifully moderate for a change. Gas prices are a joy. $2.05 a gallon almost everywhere.

We arrived at Voyager Resort about 12:30 p.m. and check-in was quick and easy. Only 15 people were on the schedule for arrival today a number that will substantially increase over the next few days. Right now we have only one close neighbor in the park, but that will soon change.

Our neighbor has some spirit

After hooking up electrical, water and sewer and the most important thing - the cable television, we decided to do our grocery shopping tomorrow so we went to the resort restaurant for dinner. After dinner we took a quick walk around to make sure all our favorite things were still in place - they were - and then returned to our trailer to watch football.

There was also some major cleaning because of our little unwanted visitors to the trailer while it was in storage. They are gone and so is any evidence of them.

As per usual we always anticipate seeing our first Saguaro cactus at Bumble Bee Road on I-17 as we approached Phoenix. Although Joan through a little wrench into that by "thinking" she spotted one about 5 miles north of the road. I tried hard to convince her that it was a barrel cactus, but she is hard to knock off a notion when she thinks she is right.

I'm still going with Bumble Bee Road for the first Saguaro cactus.

Time out:7:53 a.m. (MST)
Mileage out:96041
Time in: 12:30 p.m.
Mileage in: 96322

A "breezy" travel day and a DIY dinner

(I will add photos to this post when we get to Tucson)

We breezed into Flagstaff Friday afternoon where the high was 64 degrees. Usually when we arrive here we are digging out the trailer from snow and I’m freezing my hands off trying to hook up the trailer. Not this year.  Actually this is not good news for Flagstaff as they really rely on the winter skiers to boost their economy.

Arizona here we are!

The trip from Tucumcari, New Mexico was uneventful and the temperature was 41 when we left so a major improvement over the past few days.

As per usual we encountered high winds as we drove through the high desert on the way to Albuquerque (they call it breezy on the news) so the gas mileage was a little down on this portion of the trip.

Outside Albuquerque the temperature rose to about 60 and bounced around there all day as we drove through western New Mexico. We passed a sign that usually has a great warning for us as we drive along I-40 with temps in the 60s – “Caution  watch for ice.”  Not this year!

By the time we arrived at Flagstaff the temperature had risen to 69 degrees. Before anything else we headed to check on the trailer which was sitting in the same spot we left it in April. It was apparent we had a couple small visitors and one was still inside – dead. We pitched the mouse out the door and moved our luggage and supplies to the trailer in anticipation of an early departure tomorrow.

I moved all the hitch gear to the car so all that is left in the morning is to drive over, back up to the trailer and hitch up.

Following that we went to Camping World to take back a hitch lock we purchased last year. Although you are supposed to return items within 90 days they nicely took back the item because they could obviously see that we had not used it.

Our burgers roasting on an open fire.

Our next adventure was to find a restaurant we had read about on the Internet. The Roadhouse Grill was not as easy to find in reality as it was on the Internet. Following the pointed directions of the clerk at Camping World we drove down a paved road that rapidly turned into a potted paved road and then narrowed into a two-path dirt road that was leading us nowhere.

Realizing (too late) that no restaurant would be located on such a remote lumber trail we turned around and checked into our hotel. For some reason they booked us into a Handicapper room which always troubles me because it feels like I am parking in a space meant for someone with disabilities. But that’s where they put us.

Using the directions given to us by the hotel clerk we found the Roadhouse Grill along the same road we had traveled but it was much closer to the good part of the road than where we had previously traveled.

Our handicapper room

It was a really nice restaurant and at the time we were there we were the only ones in it. We quickly found out that the unusual aspect of this place is that you order off the menu whatever meat you want and then they point you to a grill where you cook your own steak, burger, chicken or hot dog.

They had all the fixins’ and a really nice soup and salad bar so we cooked up our burgers had a nice salad and some chili and then called it a night. (I was tempted to tell them that my burger had been cooked incorrectly and see what they would do).

We went back to the Days Inn and fell asleep early watching Ohio State beat USC.

Mileage out: 95518

Time out: 7:52 a.m. (MST)

Mileage in: 96039

Time in: 3 p.m. (MST)

"On the Road Again!" Tucson or bust

   Like a Willie Nelson song we’re “On the Road Again!” Yes, nine months at home flew by and with a pretty strong push by the crappy weather we left even earlier for Tucson this year.

Oklahoma!

   After Christmas Day with son Tim and daughter Elin, we quickly packed up and stored Christmas for another year and hit the road early Tuesday, Dec. 26.

   As if to give us a swift kick in the butt the real outside temperature was 0 degrees as we pulled out. The whole time we negotiated snowy roads through Ann Arbor the temperature in Michigan never got above 7 degrees.

   By the time we got to Dayton, Ohio we were in a veritable heatwave at 16 degrees. Our first stop was Murfreesboro, Tennessee to have a late Christmas with son John, daughter-in-law Nicole and the three grandchildren. We arrived at their house about 2:30 p.m. Central time and the temperature was 44 degrees.

   Like a really incompetent grandfather I took exactly no photos during our Christmas celebration there. I admit it I am an idiot.

Mileage out: 93786

Time out: 4:21 a.m. (EST)

Mileage in: 94421

Time in: 2:30 p.m. (CST)

   Wednesday started later and warmer than the previous day. It was a steamy 25 degrees in Murfreesboro and dropped to 18 degrees at points along our route through Tennessee early.

Parked outside one of our dinner stops

   I wanted Joan to find Fort Smith, Arkansas (our next destination) on a map so I could see about where we were headed as we have never driven this route before. She politely told me that Fort Smith was not on the map or listed in the city directory for Arkansas in the road atlas she was using. Then she gave me a look like “what kind of Podunk village did you book us into that it doesn’t even appear on the map.”

   When I booked our hotel there were a number of options so I was surprised that it was showing up in the atlas. Finally at one of the bathroom stops we made I grabbed the atlas and immediately found “Fort Smith” on the western border of Arkansas right next to I-40 where I asked her to look. When I politely (and sweetly) informed her that I had no trouble finding our destination she looked at the city and said “I thought you said Port Smith.”

   By Little Rock we reached 33 degrees, but never got above 37 degrees on Wednesday. We stayed at a decent hotel in “Port Smith” and once we got in our room, Joan pulled out two clothes clips that my sister Pam had given her to keep the curtains pulled closed nice and tight.

   In the morning as I was emerging from the shower I found myself in the altogether with the curtains slightly parted and me exposed to the outside world.

   “What happened to the “privacy clips” you had on the curtains last night?”, I asked.

Panhandle crystal trees

   “They aren’t privacy clips, they are only to keep out the sunlight so I can sleep,” she said. We really need to communicate better.

    My father told me that my Uncle Bill had done his initial Army training during World War II in Fort Smith so I found that kind of cool.

Mileage out: 94421

Time out: 7:45 a.m. (CST

Mileage in: 94949

Time in: 4:25 p.m.

   Woke up Thursday realizing I had left the trailer battery in the Tahoe overnight. Now hoping the overnight cold didn’t drain too much power out of it because we’re going to need it to hook up the trailer on Saturday morning.

   Had a nice breakfast at the hotel and hit the road. Temperatures are still below freezing and this region (Arkansas/Oklahoma) are bracing for a big influx of cold air coming this weekend. Fortunately, we will be long gone by then.

   During our trip through Oklahoma and Texas today the Tahoe rolled over 95,000 miles and just to remind you the Tahoe is just barely three years old.

More Crystal trees

   When we hit Oklahoma City about 10:20 a.m. we encountered some minor snow squalls, but other than being a little discouraging because we are trying to get out of that kind of weather it posed no traffic issues. Almost all the way through Oklahoma and the first part of the Texas panhandle temperatures fluctuated through the low 30s.

   The trees in the panhandle had a very beautiful coating of snow and ice that made them look like crystal figurines. That all changed as we approached Amarillo and the sun came out and the temperatures steadily rose into the low 60s (yea!). The highest temperature of the day was 64.

$2.07 a gallon

   At the gas station in Amarillo I was going to give the windows a quick wash, but all the buckets were frozen solid with the squeegees frozen in them. One great thing is how much cheaper the gas is once you get south of Michigan. We are paying 40 to 50 cents less per gallon (a pretty significant savings) once we get out of our home state.

   There was a huge gathering at “Cadillac Ranch” a kind of Stonehenge made up of old model Cadillacs standing on end.

   Once into New Mexico we had a just a short trip to our night stop in Tucumcari where I had enough time to take the Tahoe to a local U-wash place and cleaned off a pound or so of road salt and mud.

Mileage out: 94949

Time out: 7:30 a.m. (CST)

Mileage in: 95518

Time in: 2:46 p.m. (MST)

Home sweet home! The winter adventure of 2017 comes to a close

Our trailer in the rest stop

The long slog home is complete. Since we last visited we have covered a lot of ground.

As I mentioned in our last post we departed the resort about 12:15 p.m. on Friday, March 31 (Joan’s birthday) and stopped at the Tucson Camping World and had the grey and black tanks of the trailer flushed and sanitized. We also had the trailer plumbing winterized to survive the cold days in Flagstaff during the next nine months.

While the work was being done on the trailer I dropped Joan at the casino and left to gas the car for the trip to Flagstaff. I returned to the casino, collected Joan and we headed back to Camping World to pick up the trailer and begin the trip home.

On our way up I-10 we spotted an official looking car and it was lettered “Zombie Outbreak Response Team.” It struck us as funny.

Son William at a Napa winery

To avoid going through Phoenix at rush hour we stopped in Casa Grande for Joan’s birthday dinner. Finding a parking spot for a Tahoe pulling a 33-foot travel trailer can be a challenge, but we found an empty section of the mall parking lot and by taking up about 12 spaces we were able to leave the car and trailer and walk to the restaurant for dinner.

We spent a leisurely 90-minutes eating dinner at Mimi’s Restaurant and then walked back to the trailer and began the drive through Phoenix and up the hill (I-17) to Flagstaff. As we did last year we topped off our fuel tank in Phoenix and then started up the long climb.

As we did last year we stopped short at a truck stop and climbed into our trailer for our last night of sleep until next winter. Getting up early we headed to the storage lot and secured the trailer for its long rest. We methodically go through a checklist to make sure nothing is left behind we need home and that everything is locked and secured in the trailer.

We did hit one snag when the new lock I purchased for the trailer hitch turned out to be the wrong size, so I had to make a quick trip to a local store to purchase a new lock for the trailer.

Urgent care in Folsom, California

As soon as we finished all that we began the long drive to Cousin Cynthia’s house in Danville, California and the left coast part of our winter adventure. Cynthia had a wonderful dinner waiting for us and we spent some quality time catching up Saturday night.

On Sunday, Joan and Cynthia enjoyed a quiet day together – I think there was a manicure and a pedicure involved some where  - and I drove over to Santa Cruz and took son William to church and then lunch and dinner before heading back to Cynthia’s. On the way home I was able to stop and visit for a few minutes with son Timothy at his new job as night charge nurse at a San Jose nursing home.

We saw Timothy again on Monday as Cynthia, Joan and I headed back to San Jose and had a nice lunch with Tim before he had to go to work. It was great catching up with him. On the way home we stopped and visited a couple wineries in Livermore so we could pick up a couple more fine wines for the wine basket we donate to the Family Literacy Center auction in May.

Sign outside Urgent Care

On Tuesday Joan and I headed over to pick up William for a short vacation to Santa Rosa with him. We stayed in a condo in Windsor and on Wednesday went to Middletown, California (the scene of a major fire last year) and visited with our friend Jan. Long time readers of this blog will remember that Jan and her late husband Norm, drove to San Antonio a number of years ago and visited us when we were staying there in our trailer. We very much miss Norm, but love it that we have stayed close to Jan and our visits are always full of love and laughter. It doesn’t hurt that she lives a stone’s throw from Twin Pines Casino and she and Joan always spend an hour trying their luck there.

I gave my son William 2 - $1 bills and he parlayed that into a $15 win on a slot machine which he smartly took with him.

Too soon it was time to say good bye to Jan and head back to the condo where we watched a couple movies.

Steve and Susie at Kenny's house

On Thursday we battled heavy traffic south on Highway 101 towards San Francisco but took the East Bay route back to William’s house in San Jose. On the way up to the condo we made the long trip up the coast on Highway 1, passing through Half Moon Bay, Pacifica and San Francisco and it turned into a marathon, so we didn’t want to repeat that on the way home. We did get to cross the Golden Gate Bridge which always brings back great memories.

After dropping William off at his home we started back over Highway 17 only to find that someone had flipped their car which meant an hour long traffic delay getting back over the hill. We did arrive back at Cynthia’s in time for a wonderful dinner with her and her friend Ed.

Joan with Liz and Kenny

I re-loaded the car and prepared for our departure on Friday morning. We left Cynthia’s and headed to El Dorado Hills to visit my old friend Kenny from my police department days. Kenny and his friend Liz are always great hosts and the time always goes too fast there. He promised me a surprise and shortly after we arrived there another old friend from my police days – Steve – arrived with his friend Susie.

On the way to Kenny's we stopped at an Urgent Care so Joan could get some medication for a lingering cough she has had. The pollen in Arizona and California really played havoc with her health this year.

We spent a wonderful evening eating steak and talking old times and catching up. Again too soon the time was up and we were on our way. We had to make a major change in our travel plans due to a weather situation. A winter storm was dumping feet of snow on the summit of the Sierras and our route was supposed to go right over I-80 and Truckee, California so to avoid being held up for many hours we took a long route south through Bakersfield, up through Las Vegas and then north back to I-80 through Salt Lake City. There was no snow on that route, but it added about three to four hours to our overall trip.

Me with Kenny and Liz

We ended up in Mesquite, Nevada where we stayed at a very nice Holiday Inn Express. The town seems extremely new and clean and we had a nice dinner at the Eureka Casino before playing long enough to win a few bucks and then returned to our room for a good night’s sleep before heading north to our next stop.

On Sunday, we drove for more than 10 hours from Mesquite to Cheyenne, Wyoming. The winds were howling all day and I was very thankful that the trailer was stored quietly back in Flagstaff. We hit snow in the high mountains of Utah and at one spot saw five cars spun out in a ditch from an apparent freeze up that must have occurred a few hours before.

The wonderful thing about Utah and parts of Wyoming is the 80 mph speed limits that allow you to really put some miles behind you in a hurry. I wish more states would realize that on many sections of open highway, 80 mph is just as safe as 70 mph.

On this day we spotted some unusual looking cows with a big white strip around their middle and twice crossed the Continental Divide.

Utah scenery

Another long drive day was in store for Monday. We left Cheyenne with the winds blowing a gale and that continued through all of Nebraska and the Iowa. Nebraska is just a long state. Make that a long and boring state. The terrain is flat and the scenery never changes, unless you consider a difference between one plowed field and another a change.

We love Nebraska, but it is just a long drive. Somewhere inside Nebraska the time changed from Mountain to Central which just made the day an hour longer. To pass the time we tuned into “Radio Classics” on the XM radio. I love the old radio shows and Joan tolerates them well. I especially love the old detective and mystery shows like “Johnny Dollar,” “Boston Blackie,” and the “Shadow.”

During one of them some of the dramatic dialogue turned sappy. “She’s the whip cream on my shortcake,” that kind of dialogue. Joan took over the driving for about 90 minutes once we got inside Iowa. She drove to just outside Des Moines when I took the wheel for the final couple hours.

A little Utah snow

We ate in Cedar Rapids at a Texas Roadhouse that we once ate at with my sister Laura and brother-in-law Philip when we went to Iowa City to see an Iowa versus Michigan State football game. After dinner we still had 45 minutes to drive to Davenport, Iowa for our night. We stayed at a Country Inn and Suites and because of my use of Hotels.com this night was free. The website gives you a free hotel night for every 10 nights you book a hotel with them.

Because we only had a short driving day on Tuesday we slept in and enjoyed our hotel room until late in the morning. I still got up relatively early so I went for a walk near the hotel because they didn’t have a fitness center. It was cold (30s) but I dressed warm enough to stay comfortable. While walking I found a cheap gas station and a place to wash the dirt and grime off my car later on.

Wyoming scenery (Joan's driving)

We ate breakfast at the hotel and then started the short trip to my sister’s house in North Aurora, Illinois.

This is the third time we have stopped at my sister and brother-in-law’s house on our journey home and each time we have passed a sign along I-88 that advertises the “Birthplace of Ronald Reagan.” Because my sister was working on Tuesday we didn’t want to arrive too early so we decided to take the detour to see this historic site.

Tampico, Illinois is about 15 miles off the freeway and in the middle of literally nowhere. The little town has seen better days but it has a very nice museum in a storefront located below the roomy apartment where the former governor, actor and President started his life. The apartment has been restored with period furniture.

Reagan's birthplace in Tampico, IL

Before we went to the museum we spotted “Ronald Reagan Park” and then across the street a sign announcing his boyhood home. Unfortunately, that home is currently being lived in and not being well cared for. We spent about an hour in Tampico before heading back to the freeway for the final leg to our familial destination.

During this leg of the trip we encountered one of my biggest pet peeves. Remember, this was Tuesday, not a holiday and we came to a 16-mile construction zone that narrowed the traffic to one lane. The right lane was closed for this entire distance and not one worker, not one piece of construction equipment was working during the entire stretch. If you are going to block a lane for a construction project, at least have the courtesy to be doing construction. It’s almost as big a pet peeve as those sections we run into where they put up barrels and a sign to let you know that a piece of guardrail has been damaged. Why not just fix the guardrail if you’re going to be there anyway?

We arrived at my sister’s after eating lunch and my wonderful sister fixed my favorite dinner – spaghetti. In fact the spaghetti is almost as big a tradition as our stop there. I can only hope it is a tradition that will continue long into the future.

Reagan's boyhood home

On Wednesday, my sister took the day off from work and we went shopping at a number of great stores. Joan and I picked up some really tasty olive oils and a balsamic vinegar from a store owned by one of their neighbors. Then we went to a movie and saw “Gifted” a wonderful movie about a young girl who had a gift for mathematics, but had a grandmother who wanted to exploit her for her own reasons.

After the movie we returned home and later went out to dinner with my family. Too soon our time with them came to an end and on Thursday we were up and ready to make the final trek home to Lapeer. There was one thing that brought a smile to our face. A large motor home had a folding aluminum chair strapped to the back and a sign that said “Mother-in-law.”

That trip was pretty uneventful (and mercifully short by our recent travel standards) and we arrived home safe and sound. We made a stop enroute to home to pick up a Prime Rib for Easter dinner Sunday when we will be reunited with our Michigan children and grandchildren.

Mural on a building in Tampico, IL

So this brings to an end another winter adventure. We leave behind in Arizona many friends and great new memories. When I wake up in the morning in Michigan I will look wistfully out the window and be sad that I can see no mountains. But I look forward to the memories we make here with family and friends and the welcoming weather of a Michigan summer. So I won’t wish I was in Arizona and be happy where I am.

We also left behind in Arizona some friends who are having serious medical challenges and we wish them well and continue to pray for them despite our absence from them.

Joan and I are very aware of how blessed we are to be able to do the things that we do and the life we have. We wish the same for all of our family and friends. So until the next great adventure we close this chapter of Grandma’s Recess. Thanks for coming along for the ride.

Here are the stats for the trip home:

Mileage out of Tucson: 66121

Time out: 12:15 p.m. (from resort)

Dinner with family

Time out from Camping World: 4:35 p.m.

(Into rest stop near Flagstaff at 9:58 p.m.)

Mileage in and out at Flagstaff: 66441

Time out of Flagstaff: 7:28 a.m.

Mileage in at Cynthia’s in Danville, California: 67175

Time in at Cynthia’s house: 7:19 p.m.

Mileage in and out at Kenny’s house in El Dorado Hills: 68095

Time out at Kenny’s house Saturday morning: 8:47 a.m.

Mileage in and out at Mesquite, Nevada: 68771

Time in at Mesquite, Nevada: 6:30 p.m.

Time out at Mesquite Nevada (Sunday): 7:45 a.m. (Pacific time)

Mileage in and out at Cheyenne, Wyoming: 69538

Time in at Cheyenne, Wyoming: 7 p.m. (Mountain time)

Time out at Cheyenne, Wyoming: 7:22 a.m. (Mountain time)

Mileage in and out of Davenport, Iowa: 70341

Time in Davenport, Iowa: 8:59 p.m. (Central time)

Time out of Davenport, Iowa: 9:53 a.m.

Mileage in North Aurora, IL: 70506

Time in North Aurora, IL: 2:32 p.m. (Central time)

Mileage out in North Aurora, IL: 70547

Time out in North Aurora, IL: 8:23 a.m. (Central time)

Mileage in at home: 70883

Time in at home: 3:15 p.m. (Eastern time)

Total mileage for trip: 10,152 miles 

Time winding down, time to put Arizona in the rear view mirror

Time, as it always does, conquers our visit to Arizona. As I write this we are methodically packing our things and preparing for the long trek home. As our time winds down I often get a little melancholy because I really love the mountains and the activities here at Voyager, but deep down I know that I wouldn’t enjoy the 114-degree summer days.

It is also good to get home and see family and friends in Michigan.

Cactus blooms along the Bridal Wreath trail

During the past week the temperatures have slid back to the more normal 60s and 70s of this time of year. We have done a number of fun activities including our annual wine tasting trip (I’m the designated driver and Joan is the designated taster) and this year we did it with our new friends, Mike and Susan.

Mike has lived all over the world as a plant manager for GM and his wife is delightful. We had a really fun day with them while touring the Sonoita wineries near here. We picked us a few selections for the Southwest Wine Package that we annually donate to the Family Literacy Center auction which occurs very soon after I get home.

We also attended a nice party for my friend Frank, of Elko, Nevada, who at 90 continues to hike with the Tuesday hiking group. He is an inspiration to all of us as he climbs up and down the mountains at his age. The party was fun and Frank was surprised by the appearance of several out-of-state family members.

Tonight (Wednesday, March 29) will be our last show and it’s a presentation here at the resort by a large part of the Arizona Symphony Orchestra. Last week was another great show – Paper Back Writer – a tribute to the Beatle’s. Some of the older members of the park weren’t as impressed, but at least they didn’t walk out after intermission like they did with the Beach Boys show.

I’ve done two more hikes – Hutch’s Pools – which is a moderate hike into the bowels of Sabino Canyon, but it was made a little more difficult because the temperatures in the afternoon as we completed the hike were in the low 90s. Water became scarce and many of us spent a lot of time hydrating when we got back to the trailhead.

Frank's party on the patio

The second hike was supposed to be to the Chirachua National Monument, which is one of my favorite hikes, but we woke up to rain on Tuesday (March 28) and an advance group of hikers from the park who were staying at the monument texted that it was still snowing there into the morning.

So we aborted the three-hour drive there and did a more local hike to Bridal Wreath Falls in Saguaro East National Park. It was a good hike, but only five of us made the hike, and it certainly was not comparable to the Chirachua hike. This is the second year the Chirachua hike has been aborted so I’m hoping that next year will be the year.

In all seriousness, if missing that hike is the worst thing that happened this trip, I’m a blessed man.

Joan continues to volunteer at the health center (her last day is tomorrow) and my last chair set up was today for the orchestra show tonight. After the show I’ll help put away the 500 chairs and then I’ll be done for this season.

We’ve signed up to host next year’s Michigan Party again. The rhythm of the resort is slowly winding down and the bulletin board where all the week’s and month’s activities are listed, is nearly bare now. We’ve already said good-bye to many of our good friends here, a couple of them apparently for good, as they feel they are no longer able to travel. While it is sad to see them go, it has been a pleasure to get to know them.

Meet Me at Maynard's March 27

We were invited last week to attend a private dinner for volunteers who helped with the chair, table and kitchen set-up crew. This was different from the all volunteer party, which includes many more people who help around the park.

Because we are involved several days a week, the park hosts a special dinner just for us and it was very good. The park could not operate as it does, for the prices it does without all the many volunteers who help out here.

Although I’m not a card player, there are several groups of folks who play cards here every week. Bunko, poker, euchre, bridge, you name it, just about every kind of card game is played here.

There is pickleball, tennis, bocce ball, shuffleboard, softball, volleyball and other sports which are popular here as well. All have gone pretty quiet this week as people depart for home.

On Friday, March 31 (Joan’s birthday, by the way) we will head out of the park about noon and drop the trailer at Camping World in Tucson so that it can be winterized for storage. Later that evening we will start the trek up the hill to Flagstaff and drop the trailer off early in the morning and then head to California to visit friends and relatives there.

At some point I’ll post again, but I can’t say for sure when I will have time for that. So stay tuned. Thanks for joining us on this year’s voyage and we look forward, God willing, that we will do it all again next year.

Hikes, jewelry, shows and more, much more

Life remains good, but very hot in the desert since we last visited. Temperatures are unusually high for this time of year and we have just gone through a stretch of consecutive 90-degree days that promise to continue into the first of this coming week.

On top of Mt. Wrightson

We have enjoyed another wonderful concert, “Mr. Boogie Woogie” (feel free to Google Mr. Boogie Woogie) which was a tribute to Fats Domino and several other artists. Next year’s lineup appears to be just as good so we have reserved our same seats for next year.

Some of the older residents in the park are not thrilled with some of the shows as they would prefer more Lawrence Welk type music, but such is the challenge of the activity office in trying to please a population that ranges from 55 to 95.

I have been teaching the Thursday night coed Bible class for the past three weeks as the park chaplain has had his hands full with a wife recovering from hip surgery. He comes to the class and helps, but has asked me to take the lead. It has been a lot of fun and very instructive as well.

Joan continues her volunteer work at the health clinic at the resort and I continue to schlep tables and chairs as needed in the ballroom. As a result of that we were both treated to a free lunch for volunteers on March 15 and then we get a special dinner on the 23^rd because of my service with the setup crew.

Summit sign

On Saturday, March 12, we got up early and headed to Madera Canyon for some bird watching. Madera Canyon is home to hundreds of bird species and many of them you can only see there in Arizona. We got there about 7 a.m. and sat at the Santa Rita Lodge bird feeding station for a while watching birds. We took a short hike on a nearby nature trail, but heard a lot more birds that we actually saw. Then we drove down to Proctor Road in the park where we walked a mile loop to see if we could see more birds, which we did, but the human traffic on the trail seems to limit the birds.

It's a trip we’ll do again.

Because I’m a veteran I signed up for a “Tribute” card at the Desert Diamond Casino. I don’t gamble, but Joan dabbles in it for fun. As a “Tribute” member I get 12 free nights in the hotel a year and just for something to do away from the resort I booked two nights for us to stay there. It is nice because we can spread out a little and our shower is only 20-feet away instead of a short walk in the resort to the shower house. It’s a nice break and we have one more night booked before we leave.

Desert Diamond also has a nice eating place, “Agave Restaurant” that has a Prime Rib for two dinner on Sunday night for $29 so we usually take advantage of that as well.

Joan continues her polymer clay jewelry class and has made a couple more beautiful pieces she can wear.

Resort church was excellent Sunday (March 12) as a string quartet from the Arizona Symphony Orchestra came and accompanied the choir and then did a few numbers on their own. I love a good string quartet and this was a very good string quartet.

My truck is parked way down at the bottom

Another thing we did during the current time was attend the “One Act Plays” performance of the Voyager Theater Group. At least one of the plays was written by a park resident and all were performed by park residents. All very entertaining, but sitting on a hard, folding chair for two hours leaves my butt frozen.

Last Monday, we led a group of about 14 people, which included a number of friends of Marcia and Jerry to the Meet Me at Maynard’s event in downtown Tucson. About half of them had never been to Meet Me at Maynard’s and I think most of them had a good time. We all ate at “Fired Pie” 

afterwards. Fired Pie, if you don’t recall, is the place that makes individual pizzas and salads and they have an array of toppings for both. It is only $7.99 per person and with the Meet Me at Maynard’s discount we save 10 percent on top of that.

We’re all about the discounts.

I have done a couple great hikes since last we met. One of them is a repeat and that was to Josephine Saddle in Madera Canyon. Actually, this was the third time (the fourth we’ll talk about in a minute) I had been up this trail this season as I had done this hike with Mahlon, our friend from Michigan, when they were here in January.

The Tuesday hike group headed up there and while we initially had plans for some of us to continue up to Mt. Wrightson, those plans fizzled when a number of folks had to bail out for more mundane issues like doctor appointments and closing on a house in the park.

Snow on the trail near the summit

The hike to Mt. Wrightson for those who wanted to go to the summit was rescheduled to Thursday (March 16) but I had Bible study obligations in the morning so I couldn’t go.

So I decided to get up early on Friday and head up there myself. I tried to find someone to go with me, but that didn’t work out either. The trail is pretty well traveled so I was not worried about going alone. If you crash and burn on the trail you are never more than 20 minutes from someone coming by.

I arrived back at Madera Canyon about 7 a.m. at the trailhead and made a bad decision to take the Super Trail to the top instead of the Old Baldy Trail which I have always used. Someone told me that Super Trail to the top is more scenic (which is correct) but it is also three miles longer which may not seem like much but those three miles make this a 14-mile hike instead of a 10.5-mile hike which by the end of the day is a lot.

Looking towards Mexico

The Old Baldy Trail is steeper with lots of switchbacks but it cuts about two hours off the hike time from the Super Trail. Also, the Super Trail has not been maintained for a while so my legs got scratched up for the overgrowth of sticker bushes that grow on both sides. A number of large trees have fallen over the trail as well and those you can’t walk around you have to climb over, which gets tiring.

Toward the top of the trail I encountered snow left over from the early season’s snowfall, but it wasn’t icy and not an obstacle.

After the long slog to the top I finally arrived at the summit along with a few other folks, including quite coincidentally a couple from the Voyager RV resort. Dave and Deb also hike with the Tuesday group and like me decided to make up the hike on Friday. They were excited because they were going to go down the mountain on the Super Trail and asked if I might go with them. I declined, as I didn’t want to add another three miles to what had already been a long hike. So I went down the Old Baldy Trail and beat them back to the parking lot.

It took 4 ½-hours to get to the summit (9,453 feet) from the trailhead which is at 4,500-feet but only 2 ½-hours to get down to the parking lot. I arrived back at my car at 2:43 p.m. and immediately let Joan know I was down and safe.

I took two quarts of water up with me, but with the high temperatures that was barely enough. I drained my last bottle of water about a mile from the parking lot and then headed to a convenience store where I bought a bottle of apple juice and a large 20-ounce bottle of water and downed them as well just to start the re-hydration process.

Dancing in the courtyard for Frank's 90th

Once home I showered and took Joan to dinner in the resort at the restaurant. They had a St. Patrick’s Day special of corned beef and cabbage which she loves. Not being Irish I settled for a fat juicy steak and potato dinner.

On Saturday I helped set up the Catalina Room for an author book signing (see below) and then later helped set up a 90^th birthday party for fellow hiker (yes, he hikes very well at 90) Frank who hails from Elko, Nevada.

The temperatures were in the mid-90s, but in the shade where we set up the tables it was very comfortable. The dancing went on into the wee (well, wee hours as defined in a 55 and over park) and I got the chairs and tables cleaned up and stored by 8 p.m.

Author J. A. Jance was the best selling author that we set the room up for and I picked up two autographed books for the Family Literacy Center auction.

In my last newsletter I mentioned that we had lost our space at the storage lot. Susan called and said a space had opened so we got our spot back. It’s a little more expensive, but it’s closer to Tucson and it has been very convenient so we snapped it up and that’s where we will be in two weeks.

Well, I did a little better in keeping you up to date this time and there will probably be just one more posting before we leave here in two weeks. I’ll try to post as we head to California and then home.

Better late than never, our next post

Rattlesnake bridge on Meet Me at Maynard's

Despite my resolve to keep track of these posts and our activities our full calendar has left me once again way behind in recording what we have been up to in the Old Pueblo, as the locals call Tucson.

It’s been three weeks since I posted so I have a lot to cover, but I’m going to miss some things I’m sure.

Anyway, here are the highlights as best I can remember them with help from Joan’s calendar. When we last visited here we had just attended the Valentine’s Dance here at the park on Feb. 18.

We always attend church on Sunday so that never changes. One of those Sundays was Western Heritage Sunday and coincides with the rodeo being in town. Everyone is asked to wear their best cowboy outfits to church (leave the guns at home, though).  I continue to volunteer on the table and chair set up squad and have met many great new friends doing that. Joan is happily volunteering at least one day a week for four hours at the Voyager Health Clinic where she diagnoses illnesses, gives shots and prescribes medicine for folks. Just kidding, she arranges for appointments and makes sure the office is running well.

The tail of snake at the bridge's end

The chair and table set up crew has been very busy, as there are events in the ballroom almost daily now through the end of March. I can’t make them all, but I have been on hand for about 80 percent of them. No one can make them all.

We’ve seen two more Wednesday concerts here at the resort (there was no concert on Wednesday, March 1 because that was Ash Wednesday, but we did go to services in the ballroom). The first one was one of my favorites (Feb. 22) because that was the Beach Boys Tribute “Catch a Wave”

so that was two hours of music that I grew up with and loved.

On Wednesday March 8 we went to the “How Great Thou Art” Concert which was a tribute to the gospel music of Elvis Presley. Two hours of really good music left us pretty happy. The singer, Robert Shaw, is one of our favorite entertainers here. This season has been excellent and we’ve already reserved our concert series next year so we will have the same seats.

Wyatt Earp killed a guy at this spot at the Tucson train station

We continue to attend the Thursday lecture series at 1 p.m. (Joan is forced to miss her favorite soap opera but finds the lectures are well worth it). We’ve heard many science based lectures (space exploration and this week (March 9) was a really interesting presentation on the state of Internet Security and privacy. The bottom line is that you might as well consider everything you write or post on the Internet to be read and saved by someone you wish didn’t have it. Another lecture (March 2) was on the effects of climate change and the current drought situation here in Arizona.

Another lecture (Feb. 23) was on the ongoing mission to reach an asteroid that has a near earth orbit. The project, which is being supervised largely by the University of Arizona, is a seven-year round trip to the asteroid. The space probe is supposed to touchdown (only briefly) on the asteroid and collect samples from the surface and then return them to earth.

You can lock your love on one of these kiosks

The lecturer brought lots of great photos and models and it was a really fascinating talk.

We’ve been to a couple Saturday night dances in the interim, including another Reminiscence Dance and then a really rocking good time at the Retro Rockets Dance on March 4. Retro Rockets is a popular dance band that plays exclusively music from the 50s, 60s and early 70s. They go from one song to the other and the female lead singer is extremely talented.

Joan has continued her classes in “polymer clay” and has been busy making pretty jewelry. Every Friday she goes to her class and continues to learn new techniques that she can take home and use there.

Joan's jewelry

She enjoys creating the jewelry and can design them in colors and shapes that go with her clothes. She is getting very good at it too. On Wednesday, March 1, she and other members of her jewelry class set up a table at the “Show and Tell” event in the ballroom. All the shops and activities at the resort display what they have been doing all season and try to convince others to sign up for next year. I am very proud of what she is doing.

Part of the reason I have been tardy in keeping up the blog is that I have been writing and producing my 24-page Navy newsletter for the USS Cogswell DD-651 Association. I finished it just on deadline on Feb. 28.

One of the big highlights of the last few weeks was attending the musical “Motown the Musical” at Centennial Hall on the campus of the University of Arizona. It was the story of Barry Gordy and the rise and proliferation of the music now known as Motown.

Me on top of Blackett's Ridge

Every Monday (except March 6 when we hosted the Michigan Party – more on that next) we continue to go to Meet Me at Maynard’s in downtown Tucson. Our Michigan friends in the park, Marcia and Jerry, have started going with us and they also seem to enjoy the activity. You get a nice walk, you get to sit outside and enjoy the warm night air and some local music and then eat dinner out, what could be better?

Recently, we've been taking a different route, one that takes us over "Rattlesnake bridge." You can see a photo above and if you look carefully you can see the eye of the snake and the root of its fangs in the upper left part of the photo. The metal work looks like the skin pattern of the snake and the tail rattles when a bicycle passes by.

One of the tasks I need to perform here every year is the wash and wax of the trailer. It is always a daunting job that causes me to have to go on the roof of the trailer and endure the constant taunts of everyone walking by reminding me of the death of an RVer years ago who did a swan dive off the top of his RV.

Dressed for Western Heritage Sunday

I was just about to start that process when I learned from our RV repairman (yes, we finally had a reason to call him to our RV for a malfunctioning propane gas valve) that there is a young Tucson man who has an auto detailing business who washes and waxes RVs for a very reasonable rate. So I called Alex and for just a little over $100 I saved myself from a full day of miserable work and the constant lectures from passersby. Money well spent and the trailer looks great.

So let’s talk about the Michigan Party. Just a little background in case you forgot. Nearly all the states and Canada have annual parties where the folks from those areas get together and celebrate not being where they are from. The only state missing from that list during the first few years we came here was Michigan. Joan and Marcia took it on themselves to fire up the Michigan Party.

In the past, the party was a swanky affair with a price to match at a local restaurant and banquet center. The poor folks that organized it got burned out doing all the work, making reservations, picking a menu, selling tickets, etc. and finally dropped the event when the attendance fell to an all-time low in 2012.

Pins in the Michigan Party map

Enter Joan an Marcia who decided a simple potluck, in the park with a few party games would be just as good. Last year’s event on Feb. 29, drew more than 60 people. We anticipated a similar turnout this year, but were surprised when nearly 80 people showed up in the courtyard for the party March 6.

Everyone brought a dish to share and the food could not have been better. We invited our Canadian neighbors in the park because they drive through Michigan from Ontario each year on their way to and from the park. Besides, we’re doing the party so we can invite whoever we want and they are very nice people. Everyone had a great time and we gave out a number of door prizes, including a grand prize of a $25 gift certificate to the resorts bar and grill and a large bottle of Michigan maple syrup in a beautiful Maple Leaf bottle.

Our total expenses, including the prizes, was $125. We put out a donation basket and collected $127, so we came out $2 to the good which we put in the bank to add to the $200 the former committee left us in the Michigan Party account. We had each person put a pin in the Michigan map showing where the were from. Most are from around Grand Rapids. We are the only ones from Lapeer.

Picacho Peak Saddle looking down

We’re searching for a date to do the party again next year. Of course I forgot to take photos. Arrgggh!

My biggest highlight of the past three weeks was finally crossing off the Picacho Peak hike  off my bucket list. Every year we come down here we drive by Picacho Peak on our way to and from Phoenix as well as on our way down here.

We have been to Picacho Peak State Park several times, including when we have visitors, but hiking to the top of the peak has eluded me until this year. The hike is considered very difficult as it is nearly straight up in some places and requires the use of cables to pull yourself up the several steep sections of the hike.

Cable climbing to the top

In the past I had considered doing it alone, but always deferred to Joan that it would not be wise to head up there without someone with me. Finding someone in a park full of old people who want to pull themselves up a mountain is not easy. A couple weeks ago a few of the Tuesday hikers asked who might be interested in scaling Picacho Peak. I jumped at the chance and by Friday, March 3, 12 hearty folks signed up for the hike.

We drove the 45 minutes to the park and then headed up the steep Hunter’s Trail near the face of the Peak. It is about a mile up to the saddle on a steep switchback trail. Once at the saddle, defying all logic, you then descend down a pretty steep 250-foot rock formation using cables. It is always frustrating after climbing up a steep mountain, to give back that much altitude, knowing that you are going to have to regain that altitude again and then come back up that same rock after you reach the peak and start back down.

Me on top of the Peak

As we headed up the back side of Picacho Peak the trail gets steeper and that’s when the real cable work begins. Toward the end of the trail there is a very narrow wood bridge next to a sheer rock that one has to walk across to get to the final switchback trails that lead to the top. I’m not a big fan of heights so I crossed the narrow (about 8 inches) bridge hanging onto the cable and not looking down.

The long and short of it is that we made the summit and enjoyed the incredible views from the top. You can see Tucson to the south and Phoenix to the north from the summit. We had lunch there and spent a little time taking pictures. I had a great sense of satisfaction finally making it to a place I had only dreamed about for five years.

Coming down the mountain is more strenuous and nerve wracking that going up. Going backwards down the steep rocks (using cables) means trying to find a place for your feet without being able to see where you are putting them.

Lunch on the peak

The worst part came when we arrived back at the 250-foot rock section that we had come down after reaching the saddle. Going up that steep incline as tired as we all were taxed both heart and spirit, but we got it done.

We passed a lot of folks coming up the mountain in the heat of the day and we would learn the next day that one of them had to be rescued off the mountain because he had a heart attack.

As a reward we headed to a state area that holds petroglyphs from Native people who lived in the area 1,000 to 1,600 years ago. Consider it ancient graffiti but it was eerie to consider where those people had lived and played so long ago.

Climbing Picacho Peak was a reminder that we are never too old to try and achieve our dreams. I hope to do that hike someday with my son Tim. Not this year though.

Ancient petroglyphs

I also hiked on Pontatoc Ridge and Bog Springs/Kent Springs as well as Blackett's Ridge trails. I know I'm missing a couple, but that's what I get for waiting so long to post.

Last Sunday (March 5), after church, we headed to Sweetwater Park, which is a nature area using reclaimed water from the sewer system. There are lots of birds and critters that live there and Joan loves to go there to look for rare birds. We didn’t have a lot of luck seeing too many birds, but we did see a Roadrunner, a quail, a hawk and plenty of varieties of duck. A couple turtles and a huge frog.

I think the name "Sweetwater" is clever considering the source of the water. Which reminds me I saw a truck who apparently picks up dog poop and other waste and the sign on the back of the truck said "We're No. 1 in the No. 2 business." 

Joan  and bonnet at Sweetwater Nature area 

Joan continues to receive constant comments on her bonnet whenever she wears it. Perhaps we should buy a bunch and sell them as we travel.

We are making our final plans for leaving in three weeks and ran into a little snag when the place we usually store our trailer let us know they don’t have room for us this year. I have found another storage place in Williams, Arizona, near Flagstaff that has room so we will have to drive an extra half hour. It’s $12 a month cheaper so that was good.

I’m going to try to keep you up to date better on what is going on here, but no promises.

One more thing, in the interim since our last check in we have signed up and put a deposit on our stay here next year, so it looks like Arizona has really infused itself into our blood.