Tire Mishap

Yesterday was not one of our better days.  We left Casa Grande at about 11:00 am to travel the short distance of 90 miles to Buckeye, Arizona.  We’re staying at Leaf Verde RV Resort for a month with plans to attend several Brewers Spring Training games.

The trip appeared to go smoothly.  When we arrived at Leaf Verde, Kevin was shocked to see that there was a dent in the side of the trailer and the tread of one of the tires was completely gone.  Amazingly, the tire was still full of air.  Neither one of us noticed or heard a thing as we were driving.  Here’s what we discovered.

And here’s the tire.  You can see the steal belt!

The tread is completely stripped off.  We’re thinking it must have been flapping for a while to cause the damage.  We’re really surprised no one was honking or waving at us.

Two of the trim pieces on the side of the trailer are also cracked. 

That tire was only a little over 2 years old with less than 10,000 miles on it.  There is no way the tread should have pealed away like that!

Kevin went to the Goodyear store in Goodyear, Arizona.  By the way, he found out the town is named after the company.  It appears that tires used to be made with cotton, and the cotton was grown here in Arizona.  Who would have guessed.

The manager filed a claim with Goodyear.  We’re asking for the tire to be replaced and the damage to the trailer to be covered.  We’ll see how that goes.

We totally know that this could have been so much worse.  The fact that the tire didn’t go flat is beyond amazing.  All in all, we’re lucky we didn’t have an accident.  BUT, we’re pretty sick of stuff like this happening.  It seems to us we’ve had more than our share of bad luck with this trailer.  Hopefully, the rule of averages will kick in, and we’ll have some smooth sailing ahead :)

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

More Ruins

First, I’d like to welcome new followers Kate and Mike and Gina.  I started this blog almost exactly a year ago.  My original intent was to have a method of keeping family and friends informed of what we were up to.  I also was hoping to share some information for other “wanna be” fulltimers.  I found so many blogs to be invaluable while we were planning.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think that a year later I would have 47 followers and over 10,000 page views.  Or that we would actually have had 3 face to face meetings with wonderful people we’ve met through the blog.  This has become a travel journal for me, and I truly enjoy writing it.  Hopefully, those of you gracious enough to read it have found it at least somewhat interesting  :)

On Sunday we visited the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument.  It’s approximately 30 minutes from where we’re staying.  Sharon, our tour guide, did an awesome job of explaining the site and the history of the native people who lived there.

The main “attraction” at this site is the Great House which was 4 stories tall and 40 x 60 feet in size.  Wow!  In 1932 the National Park Service build the concrete and steel canopy to protect it.

A thousand years ago the Hohokam people lived in this area.  They built miles of canals from the Gila River so they could grow crops of corn, squash, beans and cotton.  They built numerous villages throughout the area.  They traded with other people from as far away as Mexico, the Midwest Plains and the Pacific Ocean.  I’m just fascinated by how resourceful and innovative Native Americans were.

The small circle on the upper left aligns with the summer equinox.  The small square on the upper right aligns with a lunar event that only happens every 18 years.  Wow! 

Another thing I can’t help thinking about is what kinds of “ruins” will people be looking at 1,000 years from now.  Will our civilization be long gone?  Will they be wondering what a McDonald’s or Wal-Mart was?  Will they find computer parts and wonder what they were used for?  History is just so amazing!

Kevin has seen enough ruins and rocks.  I think I’ve overloaded him since we left Wisconsin in September.  At least he humors me and comes along.

Late every afternoon we feel like we’re in the Alfred Hitchcock movie “The Birds”.  Hundreds of black birds line up on the power lines and in the trees behind our neighbor’s site.  They serenade us for a while and then they disappear into a row of Oleander bushes in another part of the park.  Fascinating!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

*Real Estate Outlook*

I found this interesting article regarding the real estate market in the San Diego area, specifically La Jolla which is several miles north of downtown San Diego. 

We actually drove through La Jolla when we were in the area in December.  It’s a beautiful place, with homes in the hills overlooking the ocean.  I find it interesting that even they were not immune to the housing crash with million dollar homes ending up in foreclosure.

How great that we can enjoy the area and weather of the area in our home on wheels.  Someday, I’d like to go back and stay at the Carlsbad State Beach campground right on the ocean.

This got me thinking about how the housing market is in Phoenix where we are headed next week.  It seems the housing market is very flat there as well.  I was also surprised to see Phoenix is the 5th largest city in the United States!

All of this makes me so glad that we sold our house when we did.  We didn’t get as much money as we would have 5 years earlier, but at least it sold.  I think if we would have waited, we would have gotten even less.

Los Colinas RV Resort

Yesterday we arrived at Los Colinas RV Resort in Eloy, Arizona which is just outside of Casa Grande.  Our first impression of this park is great.

It’s a smaller resort with about 150 sites and a mix of park models and RVs.  All of the roads are paved, and the sites are a reddish gravel.  Our camper was completely level once Kevin had it parked.  That rarely happens.

We have full hook-ups with 50 amp service and a concrete patio.  I would say the site is larger than the norm.  We’re in the back in the shorter term parking.  There is a truck stop a little ways behind us, but we haven’t been bothered by any noise.

As you can see from the picture, there are some huge cactus plants here.  There is also a nice mixture of trees, bushes and other types of cactus plants.

They have a nice clubhouse with a pool, hot tub, shuffleboard, and horseshoes.  There is a full calendar of activities available including cards, games, bingo, quilting, painting, etc. 

We’re paying $198 for the week including electricity.  Wi-Fi is extra and there is no cable.  This is definitely a place we would consider staying again.

The reason we stopped here for a week is to visit with Kevin’s Uncle Jack and Aunt Norrine from St. Louis.  When our kids were little we used to go spend a few days in St. Louis at their house every summer.  We have some wonderful memories of those times.  It sure is nice to see them again.

We were blessed with a fantastic sunset our last night in Yuma.  We’ve actually seen some clouds, and tomorrow is supposed to bring rain and cooler temps for a few days.  We haven’t had any rain since we’ve been in Arizona.  Don’t worry, though.  Next week we’ll be back in the 70s.  Don’t you just love it!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Agriculture in the Desert

We discovered something rather amazing in Yuma.  This area is a major supplier of produce.  Who would have guessed the desert would be loaded with fields and fields of vegetables.

There are miles and miles of crops just like this field of lettuce.

Here’s a field of cauliflower.

It turns out that years ago some very smart farmers built a series of canals for irrigation.  This region has the most sunny days of anywhere else in the country.  The farmers can plant several crops a year on the same land.  The key is the irrigation.  There is only about 2 inches of rainfall a year, but the farmers found a way around it with the canals.  It’s amazing to see.  They grow lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and celery just to name a few.  There are also many citrus groves.

A few weeks ago we saw migrant workers harvesting this field.  Now you can see the new crop is already coming up.

Joan and Al left yesterday to make their way back to Wisconsin and then head to Pennsylvania for the birth of their second grandchild.  Best wishes to everyone!

My cold is still hanging on so we’ve been laying low.  Some walks, some bike rides, some shuffleboard, some card playing and some relaxing.

I’ve also been doing some more work on oDesk.  Last summer I mentioned that I had been hired by a woman in Australia to do some transcription work.  I finished that job, but have since picked up a few more jobs.  I’m diligently working on this to build it to the point where I’ll have some steady income.  We’ll see how it goes.

Tomorrow we move on to Eloy, Arizona to spend a week visiting with Kevin’s Uncle Jack and Aunt Norrine at Los Colinos RV Park.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Hiking

I’ve really been feeling lousy the last few days, so we’ve been laying low.  We did manage to do some hiking in the last few days.

On Thursday we went back to downtown Yuma with Joan and Al to walk along the Colorado River Trail.  It’s a 2 mile biking and hiking trail along the banks of the Colorado River.  There are a few parks along the route, and it’s a very nice walk.

There were a number of these birds along the trail near the river.  I tried to identify them, but have had no luck.  They’re black, with a yellow beak, red eyes and yellowish feet. 

The bridge over the Colorado River is called the “Ocean to Ocean Highway Bridge”.  It was the last section built of the first highway that went from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.

After the hike, we went back to the Paradise Casino for the Thursday 50+ free $10 slot play.  There were signs all over the casino saying they were discontinuing the promotion.  I’m not surprised.  I think the senior citizens have been “cashing out” in droves.  We did manage to win $15 so it was a good run while it lasted :)

Today Al, Joan, Kevin and I went back to the area we hiked a few weeks ago to see if we could find the mine.  Joan has this Yuma hiking booklet, and we were sure we’d find it this time.  We hiked for a total of 3 hours, and never found it.  We sure did get a good workout on another gorgeous day!

I read somewhere that the desert would start blooming around Valentine’s Day.  Today we saw some cactus with flowers.  Cool!

I like this shot with the moon out during the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was completely drained by the time we were done.  This darn cold has just knocked me for a loop.  Hopefully, it won’t last too much longer.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

A Stretch of Luck!

I told you about our winnings at the casino on Monday.  Monday night Kevin went to play Euchre at the clubhouse.  He ended up winning $2.50.

I didn’t want to play cards so I watched the movie “The Social Network” instead.  It was a very interesting movie.  I’m not sure how factual it is, but I think it portrayed the founder of Facebook as a rather pathetic, angry, and socially inept young man.  He certainly is a rich young man now.  That’s for sure!

Yesterday we played cribbage.  I’m not usually a very lucky card player, but I just kept getting these amazing hands dealt to me.  I finished in first place with a prize of $2.00.  Kevin also won 75 cents.

We played some games with the Hansen's in the afternoon and shared a great steak dinner.  They like to play Bingo, and I joked with Joan that it was their turn to win.

Joan was all excited this morning to tell me she won $70 at bingo.  They’ve been playing every week since they got here, and this is the first time they won.  Good thing, as it was the last time they’d be able to play before leaving next Tuesday.

We’re not bingo fans, so we went home and watched TV last night.  Quite a few people in the park have had colds, and I think I caught another one.  I’ve had a sore throat and feel a bit congested, so I’m just going to lay low for a while.  I’m feeling rather zapped of energy.  Oh well, at least the weather is nice, and we won a few bucks!

The key to success is having dreams. The mark of success is living them. ~ Unknown