Catalina State Park

A couple of months ago I signed up to get Groupon emails for the Tucson area. One of them was for a half-price bike tune up. We bought a tune-up for each of our bikes at a cost of $25 per bike.

Once we got here, we realized that the bike shop was actually 30 miles north of where we are staying. It turns out that Catalina State Park is practically across the street from the bike shop. So, today we dropped off our bikes for their tune-ups and drove over to the park to do some hiking.

We’ve also purchased a Tucson Passport coupon book for $18. It has many 2 for 1 or 50% off discount offers. One of them was for 50% off the daily fee at Catalina State Park. So, we only had to pay $3.50 for the day pass.

The trail map showed 3 hikes that were about 1 mile each. The rest of the hikes were 7 to 10 miles one way with pretty steep inclines. For some reason, my joints were aching pretty bad today so we opted for the shorter hikes. Here’s a view of the Catalina Mountains from the Nature Trail. It looks like there is ice flowing down the side. Upon closer inspection, it was just some shiny rock.

I love the auto timer feature on my camera.

These two Saguaro each had over 20 arms. They are so cool.

The second trail that we hiked was called Birding Trail. It’s near the Sutherland Wash so there were actually trees and grassy areas. We didn’t see many birds though.

The third trail was called Romero Ruin Trail. Ruins from a Hohokam village dating back to 500 A.D. have been found in this area. There has been some excavation done, but mainly there are just some piles of rocks to see. I didn’t take any pictures of them. We saw lots of piles of rock just like it last year at some of the sites we visited.

We did notice some interesting plants. I think both of these plants were a type of cactus, and they both had what looked to me like some type of fruit growing on them. One was yellow and the other was red.

 

 

 

 

It’s hard to see the little red “berries” on this one. If you want to get a better look, click on the picture to enlarge it.

We hiked a total of about 3 miles. Then we headed back to the bike shop. I asked a few questions regarding what was done to our bikes, but the guy was very unfriendly. His demeanor was probably one of the worst customer service experiences I’ve ever had in a retail setting.

I road my bike around the parking lot and it did appear it was shifting better. So, I guess I just have to assume he did a good job and gave our bikes the tune-ups we paid for. I was hoping he could help me with the broken computer device I have that tracks your mileage and stuff like that. When I asked him about it, he didn’t even look at it. He just said he couldn’t do it. Oh well, I’ll find someone else who wants to earn some business from me. I also want to get a little mirror to put on my bike so I can see behind me. There are plenty of other bike shops around.

We had a buy one, get one free coupon for a Dairy Queen Blizzard so we had to stop on the way home and get our DQ fix. We also passed a Trader Joe’s so Kevin stopped and I ran in to stock up on the cranberry oatmeal I love. I did a quick look around, but I’m always overwhelmed in their stores. There’s so much I’m not familiar with. Anyone have any Trader Joe’s recommendations?

Our Wisconsin friends arrived in Tucson today. It turns out that Dick had to have a stent procedure done the day before they left home. These are the 2 couples going on the cruise with us. We’re going over to their rented condo tomorrow and discuss what we’re doing for the next 9 days before we head to San Diego. We certainly don’t want to put any stress on Dick. He needs to rest so he can be in great shape for the cruise.

I’m wondering what the news coverage around the country was this past weekend regarding the Tucson shootings a year ago. Last Sunday was the one year anniversary of that tragic event. As you can imagine, there were a number of vigils and tributes held in Tucson over the weekend. There was a great deal of news coverage with a couple of hour long specials. Congresswoman Gifford was in attendance. It’s good to see her doing so well, but it looks like she still has a long road ahead of her.

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

More Desert Hiking

Most days since we’ve been here, we’ve been hiking for about four or five miles in the desert behind our campground. It feels good to be walking again.

I’ve found all the different types of Saguaro cactus to be very interesting. They seem to be like snowflakes, no two are exactly alike. Some have no arms, some have many arms, some have strange shaped arms. There are also holes in some of them. I think these holes may be made by birds.

 

This one has a sign by it that says it’s about 200 years old. It’s huge. Kevin was kind enough to pose next to it to give you perspective of it’s size.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are also some dead Saguaro in the desert. I was so surprised to see how they grow. The inside is actually a group of tall sticks. Then there is some type of covering that wraps around the sticks which is the green part you see on a live plant. Here’s a dead one that is still standing.

 

 

 

 

 

Next week we’re planning on going to Saguaro National Park. I’m sure we’ll learn much more about these amazing plants.

Yesterday we drove around Tucson and stopped at two truck dealers. We plan to buy a new truck this year. We thought we’d see what was available. We’re looking to buy a GMC or Chevy 2500HD extended cab diesel with a long box. There was not a single long box at either of the dealers.

Then we stopped at La Mesa RV to look at some RVs. We saw a Heartland Landmark that was very nice. It had some features that we liked better than the one we currently have. But nothing that would make us actually buy.

Kevin told me that unless I’m totally blown away, there’s no reason to buy a new one. He’s right. This is our home, and I’m very happy with the one we have. In order to spend the money to buy a new one, I will have to be blown away and swept off my feet. So far, that hasn’t happened. Good news for our bank account :)

We also stopped at Lazy Days RV. They had some Redwood 5th wheels. These came out in 2010 and are manufactured by Thor. They are called Residential and are being marketed specifically to fulltimers. Again, we saw some things we liked. In some ways they were very nice, but then there were some things that looked kind of cheap.

It was fun looking, and we didn’t spend any money. A good day!

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

A Time For Reflection

We have been fulltime RVers for about 1-1/2 years now. During that time we have learned a great deal about this lifestyle.

When we were planning our “escape”, we did a lot of research. Of course, one of our concerns was financing. We read a lot of information in blogs and forums and were very appreciative of the honest financial information shared by other fulltimers.

Since we began our journey, we’ve kept a detailed record of our expenses. Before we started, we estimated we’d spend about $2,000 a month. We’ve discovered that we are actually spending about $2,500 a month, some months are higher, some lower. But, that’s our overall average.

We always planned to do some workamping, but these expenses are just confirming that we will work for at least a few years until some of our retirement monies kick in. We have savings, but we are trying to earn enough to cover our expenses so we don’t have to dip into those savings. It just makes us feel better to leave that nest egg alone. Probably our conservative Midwest upbringing.

We know there are fulltimers out there spending much less than that, and those spending more. Could we spend less? Absolutely, but we don’t want to cut anything. We are pretty conservative, but do enjoy certain things. We’re not willing to give up our satellite TV, internet, cell phones, golf, sightseeing, etc.

Another discovery we’ve made is you get what you pay for with regards to campgrounds. We enjoy the county park we camphost at in the summer. It’s a quiet, natural setting. We don’t mind staying at inexpensive Passport American campgrounds while we travel in between destinations. But, I think we’ll be choosing a little more upscale places to stay for the winter. I think paying a little more will be worth it for nicer resort-type places. It’s nice to have a variety throughout the year.

The weather continues to be fantastic with highs in the 70s and sun, sun, sun. We’ve been walking every day. There are a lot of interesting plants in this part of the desert. This cactus looks soft and fuzzy, but don’t touch it!

Here’s our site. As you can see, sites are tight and gravel. The people here seem nice. We’re planning on participating in some of the activities soon.

Tomorrow I plan to pull out my sewing machine and start a new quilting project. I have several projects I’m looking forward to working on.

Next week the two couples we will cruise to Hawaii with are arriving in Tucson. So, we’re holding off on sightseeing until they get here. Two weeks from today we’ll be cruising. Can’t wait!

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

Gorgeous

We have been blessed with fantastic weather since we left Wisconsin. All the way through Texas and New Mexico it was sunny and mild.

Yesterday we arrived in Tucson and the high was 79 degrees. Today the high was 76. Wow!! We’re loving it. Lows have been in the mid 40s. That’s the desert for you.

Today we went grocery shopping and then for an hour walk in the desert behind our campground. Both of us are feeling the effects of the sun today. We’re not sunburned, but definitely sun-kissed. We forgot the sunscreen today; we’ll need to be more careful in the future.

We are in what is considered the high desert, and it’s beautiful. Our campground actually is adjacent to Tucson Mountain Park so there is lots of great scenery all around us. Here’s the view out of our back window. The lady behind us has several bird feeders out so we’re enjoying seeing all the birds without any droppings in our area.

We’re staying at Desert Trails RV Park, south of Tucson. The price is $465 a month which includes a 30 amp FHU site with free wi-fi. The wi-fi has been spotty which I’m sure is the case in most places. It works better early in the morning when there aren’t a ton of people trying to access it.

The park is rather old and a bit rundown. It doesn’t appear there is a lot of money spent on upgrades. The sites are pretty tight. It’s not terrible, just a little “tired”. There is a nice pool and a hot tub. There are also quite a few planned activities. We’ll probably join in on some of them. The lady in the office was very nice and helpful.

We saw this fishhook barrel cactus on our walk. They have yellow fruit or flowers on them, very pretty. I never knew they always tilt to the south.

On the tire front, the good news is that Kevin was able to get a replacement tire in Midland, so we had a spare the rest of our trip. It was not a Goodyear store, so we will be contacting Goodyear directly for reimbursement. I definitely will be asking for all of the tires to be replaced. I’ll let you know what happens. I’m sure it will be a lengthy process, but I don’t give up very easily.

We only stayed in Midland for one night. I didn’t know it is the hometown of Laura Bush and that George and Barbara Bush lived there at one time with their family. There was a lot of oil activity around the area. This was the view out of our back window at the campground.

Quite an interesting sunset view.

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

Another Tire Bites the Dust

You may recall that last February one of our Goodyear tires on the camper lost its tread and caused some considerable damage. Since then Kevin has been keeping a very close eye on the other three tires.

Today as we were stopped for gas, he noticed that the tread was separating from one of the tires on the opposite side as last year. He put on the spare tire, and we were on our way again.

Thank goodness he has been so vigilant. If that tread would have come off again, we could have had a serious problem. As you can imagine, we are not happy with these Goodyear tires.

After our problem last year, a friend of ours had the same problem with the G rated Goodyear tires on his Carriage. We have also read on some RV Forums that others have experienced the same issue. Apparently, there was a problem with these particular tires. We will definitely be filing a claim with Goodyear to replace all of our tires.

We are in Midland, Texas for the night. Luckily, this is a pretty large town and we should be able to find a replacement tire before we head to Tucson. We don’t want to be traveling hundreds of miles without a spare.

We really enjoyed our stay at Coffee Creek RV Resort in Santo, Texas the last two nights. The park is only about four years old and is in excellent condition. The sites are FHU 50 amp pull-through. All of the buildings are super clean. The entire place was immaculate. I’ve never seen such luxurious bathrooms at an RV park. They are Passport America members, so we only paid $17.50 per night for two nights. Definitely money well spent.

We had lots of laundry to do. The washers and dryers were large and we were able to get it all done in four loads for a total cost of $10. They also had free wi-fi, although it was rather slow.

Our site was across from the bathhouse and laundry building. The pool and hot tub were next door. Here’s a view of the pool area. You can see our camper across the road. There were only about a dozen other RVs in the entire place.

The weather has been great. Yesterday was in the 70s. We enjoyed sitting outside soaking up the sun and listening to the Wisconsin Badger basketball game on satellite radio.

After dinner we had a soak in the hot tub. We were the only ones in it. What a great New Year’s Eve, soaking in the hot tub with your best friend and watching the moon and stars. I think this may be one of my favorite New Year’s Eve nights ever! The pool was quite cold, but the hot tub was just right!

Today we drove about five hours from Santo to Midland, Texas. This is one very large state. It takes days to cross it. We spent all of today on I-20 which runs through central Texas. There were very few towns along the way, just lots and lots of red dirt, scrubby looking trees and pear cactus. I did not realize that Texas was so dry and desert-like.

We saw an extreme wildfire danger sign at the rest stop. Texas has been suffering from a drought, and it was very obvious. Everything looks very dry and barren. We did see quite a few ranches, cows and oil pumps. In fact, Midland looks like it has a lot of oil activity.

We’re at Midland RV Campground. It seems to be a very basic place, although most of the sites are occupied. I’m wondering if many of the people here are oil workers. It just seems like that kind of place. They do have free wi-fi and cable. We were able to get a discount for being Escapee members, so our cost was $22.95 for the night. We chose it because of the convenient location off the interstate.

I hope everyone had a very Happy New Year. I sure hope our tire problem is not a sign of things to come this year!

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

Happy New Year

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit with family and friends in Wisconsin. The boys cooperated and let me take the annual family pictures.

I was disappointed that there was no snow on the ground for a white Christmas. However, we were lucky to have good driving conditions. The only problem was the day we left. There had been some freezing rain overnight, and we saw several cars in the ditch during about the first hour on our drive back to Kansas. After that, it was smooth sailing. Along the way, we saw quite a few RVs heading south, many of them were from Minnesota.

We arrived back in Kansas at 8:00 pm on Thursday night to find our camper just as we left it. No problems there, great! We spent the night in Coffeyville and were back on the road on Friday morning. It was another long day of driving, about 8 hours. We chose to do one long day and then spend two nights at one spot, rather than break it up. That way we won’t be traveling at all on New Years Eve. Since it’s on a Saturday, we thought there might be a lot of traffic. Yesterday’s traffic wasn’t too bad other than around Ft. Worth, Texas.

So, we’re staying at Coffee Creek RV Resort in Santo, Texas. It’s about 40 miles west of Fort Worth off of I-20. The campground is very nice and clean. They are Passport America members so it’s costing us $17.50 a night for a FHU 50 amp site. We have lots of laundry to do and unpack from our trip. We also had some things we bought from Amazon shipped to Eric’s house. So, now we have to find a place for all of it.

The weather is supposed to be in the low 70s today, so we’ll enjoy a beautiful day while doing our chores.

Happy New Year and stay safe!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all my friends and family in blogger land.

Had a safe and uneventful 12 hour trip to Wisconsin yesterday. We left the RV at the campground in Kansas and are staying at a Super 8 for 6 nights while we visit with our family and friends.

Went to church with our boys and my mom and her friend tonight and then had dinner at my moms. Back to her house tomorrow for more family fun. My brother and his wife will join us for the day.

I’m loving and appreciate this time with my children!

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