On to Phoenix Family and Friends - Friday, March 22, 2019

This morning we put Tucson, Arizona in the rear-view mirror. We feel we know the city and surrounds much better after nine days, and we also know what we want to do on future visits. 

The Escapade RV Rally was fun and educational. My brother and his wife may want to go to the one in Rock Springs, Wyoming in June 2020. They will be new to full-timing in the next year.

We are on our way to Lake Pleasant Regional Park on the northwest side of Phoenix. This will be our fourth stay in the park. We love it there. March is a time of year we hadn't been here. The lake was higher than we've ever seen it. Our back-in site was plenty big for our rig and Bob backed in like a pro. No one could laugh at his performance. The class we took really helped.

After we set up camp and relaxed for about an hour, we headed to Carefree, Arizona to visit Bob's Aunt Sally and Uncle Skip. Bob's mom, Louise, and sister, Laura were there as well, having made the drive to Phoenix from Las Vegas the day before. When we arrived at his aunt's house, his cousin, Charis, was there. Michael, her husband, would join us after he got off work.

They have a lovely home surrounded by desert with lots of quail, curve-billed thrashers, deer, and the occasional javelina or bobcat. Sally served chips, salsa, and guacamole for the appetizer. We gathered in their den and watched the birds jockey for position at the bird feeder.

Curve-billed thrasher on the branch,
Gambel's Quail on seed cube.

Gambel's Quail.

Curve-billed thrasher.

After Michael arrived, we gathered in the dining room for salad, rice, chicken enchiladas (Aunt Sally's specialty), and berry pie with whipped cream for dessert. 

Uncle Skip (photo courtesy of Laura L. Alton).

Bob and his mom, Louise.

Our lovely "restaurant" for the evening.

Michael getting his plate. We
dished up our own servings.

Uncle Skip.

The best restaurant in town.

Charis, Michael, Laura.

Me and Bob.

Louise and Aunt Sally.

Aunt Sally and Uncle Skip.

The evening was the best. Bob says, "Epic. It was wonderful the way the cousins connected. It was wonderful for the first-generation and second-generation to share their memories. The parents loved hearing what their kids remembered from growing up. It's an evening that I will always cherish."

Thank you, Aunt Sally and Uncle Skip, for hosting the clan. We loved being around everybody. It was everything that a family gathering should be.

A Quick Stopover in Phoenix - Monday, March 7, 2016

Today's destination was Lake Pleasant Regional Park northwest of Phoenix. We had another long travel day from Deming, NM, to the northwest side of Phoenix. Our goal was to be in the regional park all set up and then meet up with Bob's aunt and uncle, Skip and Sally, at 4:00 pm. We arrived at the park a little later than we thought, so we called Skip and Sally to let them know we'd be arriving about 5:00 pm.

Aunt Sally prepared a wonderful dinner of chili, cornbread, and salad. We visited until about 8:00 pm, then had to head out so Bob could purchase a charger for his work MiFi. (He left his at the office in San Antonio.) As we drove toward Best Buy, I noticed the battery light on the truck dash and asked Bob what that meant. He thought either the battery or alternator was going out. As we drove, we looked for a repair shop that he might return to on Tuesday morning for a diagnosis of the problem. Plus, our AC was not staying cold. It would be cold for a while, then just blow out warm air. Hmm.

After the purchase of a charger at Best Buy, we filled The Beast with diesel and headed back to Lake Pleasant. We were exhausted so we got a good night's sleep. At 7:15 a.m., Bob was out the door to try to be the first in line at the repair shop. Two minutes later he was back in the 5th wheel. The truck wouldn't start. He asked the campground host if they could jump start his truck and they said no, they couldn't. When he returned to our campsite, the people camping across from us were having their morning coffee and Bob asked them. He was very happy to help out and within minutes, Bob's truck was humming nicely.

He left for the repair shop we had seen. About an hour later he called me and said the repair shop he went to couldn't look at it until the afternoon. There was a guy in line behind Bob who heard about our predicament. He stopped Bob and gave him the phone number of Impact Diesel Auto and Truck Repair shop he takes his truck to. Bob called Impact Diesel and explained the problem. The mechanic said it sounded like the alternator was going out and if he brought the truck over, they could work on it right away.

When Bob got there, they tested the truck and it was the alternator. The mechanic said he could fix it, but he needed to order the part from Ford. Bob asked how long that would take. The guy said, "After we talked and I knew you were coming over, I ordered the part. It should be here shortly." Bob was thrilled. Not only that but the mechanic told Bob that his truck batteries were 2-1/2years old and it's normally good to replace the batteries when the alternator is replaced. He said the batteries were still under warranty so Bob could get two new batteries and would only have to pay for the labor to install them. Cool! Speaking of cool, we also had new Freon put into the air conditioner. We were happy so many things on the truck were fixed at once.

After the truck was fixed, Bob gave me a call to let me know he'd be back to the campsite in 1/2 hour. I got everything ready to go, pulled in the slides and took some photos of our site and the lake. Check-out time from Lake Pleasant Regional Park is noon and we pulled out at exactly noon.

The view from our back window - pull-through site #25

Lake Pleasant Regional Park -
pull-through site #25

Lake Pleasant

In addition to the pick-up truck problems, the top step of the 5th wheel came undone on one side so that it felt like the top step was collapsing when you stepped on that side of it, and our living room fan now has a broken blade. If it's not one thing it's something else. Those two repairs will have to wait.

We're off to Las Vegas! 

Dodgers Spring Training, Glendale, Arizona and Meeting Blog Friends - Tues., Mar. 4

Such a beautiful day to go to Camelback Ranch for Dodger spring training, predicted high is 82 degrees. We arrived about 11:30 a.m. for a 1:00 p.m. game between the Dodgers and Mariners.

The facility is beautiful. We walked around the game field, then wandered over to one of the training fields where some of the Dodgers were practicing. Dodger spring training has been on Bob's bucket list for years. The day has arrived and Bob is thrilled.

Bob at Camelback Ranch, home of Dodgers spring training.

Dodger facility.

The stadium at Camelback Ranch.

Dodgers practicing...

Matt Kemp, center fielder

Matt Kemp and Mark McGwire, batting coach

Mariner Felix Hernandez stretching before the game...

Felix Hernandez

During the Dodgers-Mariners spring training game...

Our seats were to the right of the Mariners dugout.

Looking across to the Dodgers dugout.

Batter up - Hanley Ramirez

Father and son moment at first base.

Seventh inning stretch

Bob was thrilled that six of the starters today are projected opening starters for the Dodgers. We both wore long pants and I wore long sleeves so we wouldn't get totally sunburned. Also had on 60 sunblock, plus Bob bought me the cool Dodger straw hat. Thankfully we were sitting on the Mariners side of the field and the sun was off to our right shoulder. If we had been sitting by the Dodger dugout, we would have been facing the sun.

The day was relaxing and we had a good time. The Dodgers, however, lost 4-1. Didn't really matter to us. We both grew up in southern California and went to Dodger games as kids, but we lived over 30 years in Oregon and rooted for the Mariners too. We used to take trips to Seattle to see the Mariners play.

After the game, we were off to meet blog friends Ingrid and Al of "Live Laugh RV, Our Next Chapter..." at Pleasant Harbor RV Park, across Lake Pleasant from where we camped. A number of RVers meet at the community picnic table to enjoy the beautiful weather, fellowship and sunset. Through the course of the evening 11 people showed up.

We had drinks, snacks and stories to share, not to mention the spectacular sunset Mother Nature provided. Linda, who writes Bear Tracks Blog, and her husband Mike were there with their cute pooch, Lucy. I had not read her blog before and added her to my reading list. They are full time RVers and before becoming landlubbers, they lived on their sailboat for seven years. A motorhome is like a mansion to them!

Karen, Al, Ingrid, Linda, Don, Curt, Bob, Mike

Karen, Al, Ingrid, Don, Bob, Susan, Curt

The sky before sunset

Just before sunset.

Ingrid happily snapping photos

Al and Ingrid

Sun's getting lower

Just after sunset

Experiment with flash in foreground.

Ingrid (LiveLaughRV) and Linda (Bear Tracks Blog)

Three hours later, in the pitch dark, we said our see you laters. What a wonderful evening. Bob and I were still talking about the good time two days later. Thank you for the invite to watch sunset.

Another wonderful day and evening. Travel Bug out.

Meanwhile, Six Days Ago...Mon., Mar. 3

With all the excitement the past couple of days, I missed a few days of blogging. Time to catch up.

On Monday, March 3, we were up at 5:00 a.m. hoping for an early start. By 7:00 a.m. we were on the road headed toward Lake Pleasant Regional Park. Our drive was uneventful except for a short stretch of road construction at Joshua Tree Scenic Parkway Picnic Area (25-minute delay and single lane with pilot car). We checked into our campsite about 1:30 p.m. That gave us plenty of time to take care of business.

Bob worked for a few hours. I made chili to take to Uncle Skip and Aunt Sally's house for dinner.

We called Skip and Sally to let them know we were settled at Lake Pleasant and made plans for dinner around 5:00 p.m. Before dinner, we talked and had drinks.

Uncle Skip enjoying a brewski.

Sally said, "I have a present for you." She brought out a beautiful purple African violet plant. I love African violets! She knew that my last African violet plant had been chewed to stumps by two bored cats. I tired to revive it, but alas, it didn't make it. Sally knew the story.

When I looked more closely, the plant Aunt Sally gave me was a very good fake. She found it at the thrift shop where she volunteers. We both laughed and laughed. We're going to foil those cats!

Their backyard is part of a desert-scape shared by other homes' backyards. Many birds and animals live back there. When we visited a week ago, a deer walked by. This evening when we arrived, there were all kinds of birds at their feeder: Gambel's quail, curved-bill thrasher, female gila woodpecker and sparrows. Bob saw a roadrunner farther out in the cacti too.

Gambel's quail

Gambel's quail

Curve-billed thrashers

Female or juvenile Gila woodpecker (oops, kind of blurry)

Sally made a Tex-Mex casserole, deviled eggs, a big salad, guacamole, and green chile cornbread. Needless to say we had a GREAT dinner and no one went away hungry. Aunt Sally packed up casserole and cornbread for us to eat tomorrow night too. 

Aunt Sally, here's what happened when I put out the fake African violet on Tuesday...

Looks like Sunnie is the culprit.

Caught him red-handed pawed.

So funny!!! Crazy cat. Love it. Thank you for the thoughtful gift. Sunnie thanks you too.

Travel Bug out.