GETTING READY FOR THE Q

Wednesday, January 21 - We pulled out of the Pima County Fairgrounds this morning heading for Quartzsite, AZ. We are stopping in Tonopah, AZ, about 90 minutes east of Quartzsite for the night to fill our fresh water tanks, dump our holding tanks, and enjoy l-o-n-g showers before living in the desert of Quartzsite for the next five days. It was pretty windy today, so I think we lucked out waiting until tomorrow to head into the dust of Q.

We are staying at Saddle Mountain RV Park in Tonopah, AZ, which is about an hour west of Phoenix. Interestingly, this campground was the former home to the workers building the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, the largest nuclear plant in the U.S., quite a few years ago. They still use the dormitory building (remodeled to suit their needs) for offices, the activity center, woodworking shop, club house, etc.

This is a very nice park. Too bad it isn't closer to Phoenix. The streets are paved, huge level gravel sites with full hookups, there are nice trees and landscape, and we are spread out nicely from our neighbors. If it was a little more accessible to the Phoenix area, we would definitely stay here.

Looking right.

Looking left.

A nice little park.

Did I mention the price is right too! $365/month which includes electric. There is also a pool, tennis courts, pickle ball courts, and tons of activities for those looking for something to do. For sure, Paul would enjoy the wood shop!

After setting up and relaxing outside in the beautiful weather, we were doing a few housekeeping chores around the 5th wheel when a fella' approached Paul and asked him if he was "Where's Weaver." It only took us a couple seconds of eliminating possible scenarios to figure out it must be Bob and Jo, fellow bloggers, former fellow Cameo owners, (They have a new Lifestyles 5th wheel on order.) and frequent blog commenter.

They were in Quartzsite for the day with a couple friends and decided to stop in Saddle Mountain RV to see if they could find our Cameo and visit with us. What a wonderful surprise! It is so nice to meet fellow RVers and bloggers that we communicate with so frequently. Thanks guys for stopping by.

Bob and Jo, How to Love Where You Are and Eat Where The Locals Eat.

Bright and early Thursday morning, we'll pull up the jacks and run the short 90 miles west on I-10 to Quartzsite. We are staying with a group of friends, Escapee's Class of 09 and the Classless Class. Many of them are already there with others stopping and going throughout the week. We'll be there until next Tuesday, including the BLOG FEST on Saturday. If any of you blog readers/posters want to meet a group of bloggers, stop in on Saturday between 1:30 and 3:30 and say hello! How could you beat that?

Hope to see all our friends at the Blogger Fest!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

 

 

 

HIKE AMONG THE SAGUARO

Monday, January 19 - With beautiful weather to brag about to those in the North (83 degrees today), we enjoyed a hike in Saguaro National Park. Here in Tucson there is a West park and an East park. We've hiked both, in previous visits to Tucson, as long-time readers may recall. The East park is closer to our campground at the Pima County Fairgrounds, so we decided to head there for our hike.

We stopped at the Visitor's Center to get input from the National Park volunteers on the best hiking trails. The trails in the East park are short and all interconnected so by careful planning you could put together a hike at just about any length. The only negative is the elevation gain is minuscule since the park is on fairly level ground.

We put together a hike of 5.3 miles which was enough to tucker us out. These trails were a little unusual in that they get so much use, that the trail is worn down below ground level. In some areas, the base is worn a couple feet below ground level.

The texture of the desert floor here is quite sandy with very small gravel mixed in. Almost "kitty-litter" texture, which probably leads to its wearing down.

Using the map we were given and the trail makers, we had a great long hike.

For about .6 mile, our route took us down the Javelina Walsh. This was a killer. Much like hiking on a sandy beach. Talk about a workout! Whew! We don't recommend that for anyone. Stay out of those sandy washes.

A killer. We would rather rock scramble any day than to do this again!

We enjoyed our hike again today and especially enjoy the magnificent weather.

Once again we enjoyed hiking among the Saguaro cacti and other types of cacti. Hope you have an opportunity to venture out on a hike in the desert sometime soon.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

RV SHOW, FARMER’S MARKET, HIGH TEMPS…AHHH!

Sunday, January 18 – Since Thursday, La Mesa RV here in Tucson has had a free RV Show at the Pima County Fairgrounds where we are camping. We’ve walked over a couple times to window shop. They must have 100+ RV here at the campground. We have no desire for a new RV but it's fun to see what's available in the 2015 model year.

Our two favorites were the Lifestyle which purchased production rights to the former Cameo, which we own, and a motor home on the 550 Ford truck chassis. We'll stick with our 2010 Cameo - it's paid for and serving us well!

Today, we went to Heirloom Farmer's Market held at Rillito Park in north Tucson. It is the newest and biggest framer's market in Tucson.

There was fresh vegetables and baked goods every where. Of course, we had to try a baked good.

We really enjoy seeing all the local produce and local food items available at farmer's markets. We tasted several different local food items purchasing some Pepitas, which are make from pumpkin seeds and sea salt. They look like roasted coffee beans. Google says Pepitas is a Spanish term for pumpkin seeds....huh! They are very tasty. We also purchased some dried strawberries which also make a nice snack.

We enjoyed a couple cups of freshly roasted coffee as we walked among the booths talking to the local vendors. They are always so friendly and the free tasting is neat too!

This place had the best coffee. That is Paul in the background getting his free refill.

At a different coffee stand, we watched this gal make coffee a way we never saw before. It must be good. She had a long line of customers.

Two different areas had entertainment.

If you are in Tucson on a Saturday or Sunday, give it a try. We think you won’t be disappointed…but maybe a little lighter in the pocketbook.

It was a gorgeous day with temperatures eventually soaring to 85 degrees by mid-afternoon. Bella joined us outdoors in the sun, relaxing and taking in the warmth of the Southwestern sun. Nice to be in shorts and t-shirts again!

Almost forgot......while out today, Paul stopped to fill-up on diesel fuel. Lowest price we've ever paid for diesel. Check it out!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great time!