Winter RV Rallies in Central Arizona

Regular readers of our travel blog will notice a new look, and some new features starting with this episode.  This is the first time since 2007 when we started this story that we have changed the look of the blog. We learned a few new tricks at the recent RV rallies, which are the main topic of this episode, and are trying to integrate them into the blog. We hope you enjoy the new look, and the new features. For instance, the map below shows our travels during the period covered by this chapter. The map is interactive, if you click on one of the markers a box will tell you what it is. There are also links associated with some of the places, organizations, or people mentioned in the blog.  Clicking the links will open a new window with more information.  Enjoy!
  

Hi there, welcome back to our story. Our last chapter concluded on Sunday, March 5^th, when we arrived in Chandler, Arizona, near Phoenix, for another Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) International rally. Monday was kind of a free day, as the rally doesn't really start until Tuesday. We left the coach about noon and went to a local Greek restaurant for lunch. The place was called ZK Grill and was quite good. After lunch we went to the local outlet mall, not too far from the rally site and spent a couple hours walking around shopping. We didn't buy much, but enjoyed being out and about. We were back at the coach around 3:00 doing some chores. About 4:00 the crew from Redlands Truck and RV arrived at our site to put new shocks on the coach. I had been making inquiries while we were in Yuma, trying to find a shop to do the work. Everyone was telling me it was an all day job and would run around $850. In addition, I had to take the coach to them. Redlands came out and all I had to to do was run the jacks up high enough for them to get under and the two guys went to work. It took them a little over an hour and only cost me $560. Considering the amount of work and tools needed to change out eight shocks, it was well worth it to me. About 5:30 we had cocktails with the Minard's and the Bullock's and about 7:00 we were back in the coach watching TV.

Tuesday, March 7^th, the first actual rally day. We were up early because Jackie had to be at the event center around 7:00 a.m. to do sign-ups for the two craft classes she is doing later this week. Yes readers, that said “Jackie” and “7:00 a.m.” in the same sentence. After I dropped her off I did some chores and relaxed for the morning. I picked Jackie up at noon as she had filled both classes. We went to lunch at a nearby On the Border Mexican restaurant. The food was fair, but they were out of chili relleno at noon! After lunch we went back to the rally grounds and did a walk through of the vendor area. We then went to a couple of Chapter meetings, the Military Vet Chapter and the Elks International Chapter. The two chapters held a joint reception after the meetings, but we were still full from lunch so we only stayed for a half hour or so and then went back to the coach. We had cocktails with the Minard's and the Bullock's until about 7:00, then went into our coach and watched TV until bedtime.

Wednesday, March 8^th, I took Jackie and Peggy down to the event center about 12:30 for their craft class. After I dropped them off I walked through the vendors again, still not buying anything. After Jackie's class we stayed in the events area and went to the Full Timing Seminar. I was not on the panel this year, so we just watched. We then went to the Full Timer's Chapter meeting and after the meeting they had a pizza party. We got back to the coach a little before 7:00 and went over to Peggy and Vernon's for a cocktail. We were back in our place a little after 8:00 and watched TV the rest of the evening.

Thursday, March 9^th, I took Jackie and Peggy to the events area about 9:30 and dropped them off for their second craft class. I went back to the coach and did a few chores. Around noon Vernon and I drove back to the events area to pick up the girls. We had a hamburger there at one of the food booths before heading over to the ice cream social. We ran into some geocaching friends Karen and Riley Caton and talked to them over lunch. Peggy and Vernon had gone off to the vendor area to shop. Normally we would have worked the ice cream social, handing out ice cream. The Full Timer's Chapter traditionally does that job. However, because Jackie's craft class was timed the way it was, we just went and got our ice cream sandwich and ate it for dessert.

After ice cream we drove back to the coach and relaxed for a while. Later in the afternoon Jackie cooked up a taquito casserole and about 5:00 we drove over to another get together with the Overland Trail Blazers. This one was a pot luck with lots of great food. We stayed for about 90 minutes, had a great meal and visited with friends. We then went back to the coach and had a cocktail outside with the Bullock's and the Minard's. After that we went into our coach and watched TV until bedtime.

Friday, March 10^th, Peggy and Vernon left the rally today, a day early, to go back to Casa Grande. They have been having problems with their on-board water pump not working since the day before they came to the rally. We are dry camping here, so without a working water pump they can't take showers, do dishes, anything with water. Vernon has been working every day on it, I have helped, Clark has helped, but we just can't get it working consistently. They are going to go to a service center in Casa Grande that says they have a pump and hopefully that will get it working again. We went down to the events center after lunch just to go through the vendors one last time. We had no scheduled activities today except for a happy hour in the evening. We did the vendors and also stopped at the office and picked up Jackie's money from the craft classes. They did pretty good, making some decent money. After the vendors we stopped at Clark and Judi McKay's coach to say goodbye. They are not going to Tucson with the rest of us after this rally, so we won't see them for a while. We sat and talked with them and Ray and Suzie, who were parked next to them, for a half hour or so. We then went back to our coach and about 4:30 went to a nearby coach for a happy hour with some people from the Monaco's in Motion Chapter. We took Sharon and Curt with us since they belong to the Monaco International Chapter. It was a small group and we sat and talked until about 6:00 when we went back to our coach for the rest of the evening.

Saturday, March 11^th, a travel day. People started moving out of the rally grounds at daybreak and by the time we left at 10:00 there were very few coaches left in our parking area. We said goodbye to the Minard's, who are heading up to Parker on the Colorado River, and started south on I-10 towards Tucson. It was about a hundred miles and we made a brief fuel stop, arriving about 12:30 at the Mission View RV Resort just south of Tucson proper. We quickly got checked in and parked next to Peggy and Vernon. Ray and Suzie were supposed to be here too, but they called about a half hour before we arrived and said that the park didn't have a record of their reservation and they had no spaces. They were pretty upset and I am not sure if they are even going to stay in Tucson to go to the Escapees rally with us next weekend. After we got parked I got setup for the week long stay and we then relaxed in the cool air conditioning for the rest of the afternoon. We had cocktails with the Bullock's about 5:30 and then Peggy served dinner, a nice Asian casserole. We stayed until about 8:00 and then went back to our coach for the rest of the evening.

Sunday, March 12^th, we had a Sunday paper with our coffee for the first time in a few weeks. About noon we went out, stopped for a quick lunch at Carl's Jr., and then did a Walmart run. It has been a week or so, so we ended up with quite a bit of stuff. We went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. We had cocktails with Peggy and Vernon about 5:30 and were going to BBQ some meat, but we all had big lunches and weren't really hungry, so we just sat and talked until after sundown. We then went in the coach and watched TV the rest of the night.

Monday, March 13^th, we were out of the coach about 10:00 and on the way south with Peggy and Vernon, heading to the little community of Tubac, Arizona, about 40 miles south of Tucson. Tubac is mostly an arts community and walking around it kind of reminded you of Sedona, without the red rock mountains. We had lunch at a little Mexican cafe, did a little shopping, and then continued on the last 20 miles or so to do a quick tour of Nogales, Arizona. Peggy and Vernon had never seen this little border town, so we did a drive through tour, drove along the border fence for a bit, and checked out old downtown. We then hit the freeway and went back to the RV park. We had cocktails at 5:30 and then did the BBQ we were going to do yesterday. Jackie and I had pork chops and Peggy and Vernon had steak. We ate at our house and had a nice dinner. Peggy and Vernon went home around 8:00 and we relaxed the rest of the night.

Tuesday, March 14^th, we left the coach about 10:00 and took Jackie to her first PT appointment here in Tucson. We are going to be here for two weeks and she will be able to get four more appointments in before we have to leave. After her PT we came home and had lunch, then later in the afternoon we went to visit my granddaughter Crystal and my great granddaughter Zoe, who live here in Tucson with Crystal's dad, my ex-son in law. We had a good visit with Crystal and her boyfriend Orlando. Unfortunately, Zoe, who is in the middle of the terrible two's, didn't want to have anything to do with either of us. We also got to briefly visit with James, Crystal's dad, who came home just before we left. After our visit we went back to the coach and had cocktails with Peggy and Vernon. The four of us then did some burgers on the BBQ and had a nice dinner. By 8:00 we were back in our coach relaxing with the TV the rest of the evening.

Wednesday, March 15^th, we left the coach about 10:00 and drove to a breakfast place nearby called JerryBobs. It is a fairly small place, although there are several in the Tucson area. It is probably the best breakfast place I have ever been too. I had steak and eggs with fruit. The steak was large and perfectly cooked, and the fruit bowl was a meal in itself. Jackie had an omelet that was huge, taking up the entire plate. We left very satisfied. We then drove to Oracle, Arizona, a little community about 30 miles north of Tucson to visit the Biosphere 2 site. Biosphere, which is now operated by the University of Arizona, was built in the 80's with private funds as a sort of experiment in self sustaining life in an enclosed and isolated environment. The structure itself is basically a huge glass greenhouse enclosing 3.14 acres and rising 95 feet at it's tallest point.

The structure is, or at least was originally, able to be completely sealed air and water tight. Inside are several “biomes” or environments, including a rain forest, a desert, a savanna and agricultural areas. The first experiment took place in the early 90's when eight “crew members” were sealed inside for two years. They grew their own food, tended livestock, recycled water, and tried to live as if on an inhospitable planet. The second experiment started shortly after the first, but only lasted a few months before the private venture went bankrupt. Neither experiment was completely successful due to unforeseen elements of environmental science, but a lot was learned. In the early 2000's the property was acquired by the University of Arizona which now runs it as a science laboratory for environmental studies. It is no longer used as a sealed environment, but more now as a controlled one. After paying the $18 admission we were shown a film and then given a tour of the facility by a very knowledgeable docent. The tour is very strenuous, over a mile of walking and several hundred stairs, so we were worn out by the end. We were in there almost three hours and found it very interesting.

After our tour we started back towards home, stopping at Kohl's for a bit, getting some fuel, and then stopping at a motel in downtown Tucson to see another of my granddaughters, Courtney and her two sons. Courtney lives in Texarkana, Texas, and came out here last week on the train to visit with her mother and other family in Phoenix. She has her two sons, two year old Josiah, and six month old John Jr. She also brought her stepdaughter Trinity to help with the kids. Trinity is 14 years old. Today my son Roy Jr. drove them down from Phoenix so they could catch the train in the morning to go back home. Passenger trains no longer go to Phoenix. We visited for an hour or so and then went back to the coach. We had cocktails with Peggy and Vernon and Peggy made dinner, a nice pasta and shrimp dish. We had a good dinner and by 8:00 were back in our coach resting until bedtime. A busy and strenuous but fun day.

Thursday, March 16^th, we mostly stayed home. After lunch we did our laundry at the RV park and then did a few chores around the coach. Peggy and Vernon went to the Tucson Desert Museum. We had cocktails with them about 5:30 and then Jackie made dinner for the four of us, a nice chili relleno casserole. We ate and then visited until about 7:30 when they went back to their coach. We watched TV until bedtime.

Friday, March 17^th, Happy St. Patrick's day. We left the coach about 10:00 and took Jackie to her PT appointment. Her knee is feeling better, now they are trying to loosen up the muscles in her leg. After PT we stopped at Costco for lunch and a few things. After that we went home and did some chores and relaxed the rest of the afternoon. I did go out and get the car washed for the first time in a while. It was pretty grimy. I also had a nice corn beef brisket cooking in the crock pot. We had cocktails at 5:30 and then dinner about 7:00. I made dinner tonight, Corn beef and cabbage, very traditional. We had a great meal and after the Bullock's left we watched TV until bedtime.

Saturday, March 18^th, a travel day, albeit a short one. We left the RV park about 9:30 and drove to the other side of Tucson, about 28 miles, to the Pima County Fairgrounds. Today we are going into another RV rally, this one put on by the Escapees RV Club, another large, national group. Unlike FMCA, the Escapees allow any type of RV owner to be members, so their rallies include trailers, campers, fifth wheels and the like, as well as motor homes. Since we went full time we have been to two other Escapades, as they call their big, national rallies, one in Stockton, California and one in Sedalia, Missouri. The trip took less than an hour and the parking crew got us parked very quickly. By 1:00 we were completely set up and relaxing. Jackie and Peggy went out about 2:00 to get pedi's and to do a Walmart run. They got back about 4:00 and we had cocktails about 5:30. We had leftovers for dinner and relaxed with the TV the rest of the night.

Sunday, March 19^th, Jackie and Peggy had to go over to the craft room and sit from about 9:00 to 2:00 to sign up people for their craft class on pop top lanyards. There were no other events going on, so after I dropped them off I went back to the coach and did some office work. At 1:00 I went over to a jam session and played guitar with a half dozen other players for an hour. It was a lot of fun and I will probably go to another one while we are here. I picked up Peggy and Jackie after their thing and we went back to the coach for a while. The electric here is very poor, constantly cutting in and out because there are too many people on the line and it is hot. We had to run the generator for a couple hours just to keep the coach cool. At 3:00 we went to the main auditorium for the opening ceremonies and prize drawings. We didn't win anything. After that was over we went back to the coach again and had cocktails with Peggy and Vernon at 5:00. At 7:00 we were back in the auditorium for more prize drawings. Still no win for us. We didn't stay for the entertainment, which was a local Indian dance group called Native Spirit. We went back to the coach and watched TV until bedtime.

Monday, March 29^th, Winter is over, Happy Spring! We left the coach a little before 10:00 and drove to Jackie's PT. It took just about the same amount of time to get there today as it did when we were on the other side of Tucson. After PT we stopped at Chick-Fil-a for a quick lunch, then went back to the fairgrounds. About 12:30 I drove Peggy and Jackie down to the events area so they could put on their craft seminar. I went over and walked through the vendor area for a while. I was going to go to a seminar put on by Verizon, since we have a Verizon plan, but it was canceled. I ended up sitting with Jackie for the last hour of her seminar, just killing time.

After the seminar was over we went back to the coach and relaxed for a while. About 5:00 we had cocktails with Peggy and Vernon and then went in and had a great chicken salad that Peggy put together for dinner. About 6:30 the four of us walked over to the auditorium for the evening entertainment. They stated with door prize drawings, still no wins for us. Then a group called “Woody and the Longboards” came on to entertain. They were both a Beach Boys tribute band and an Eagles tribute band. The first set was as the Beach Boys and they were OK as the Beach Boys, didn't sound authentic, but they were still good. They took a break, more door prizes, no wins, and then they came back and did an Eagles set. They were much better as the Eagles, with some of the songs sounding very close to the real thing. The Eagles were all about harmony and guitar rifs, and this group had both down pat. It was a two hour show and we enjoyed it a lot. We went back to the coach, watched an hour of TV and then went to bed.

Tuesday, March 21^st, we finally had a morning where we could sleep in a little bit. We had lunch at a little cafe on the fairgrounds called “The Cantina” and the food was pretty good, and moderately priced. Most of the time we have found fair food to be expensive and not so good. After lunch we walked around the events area, taking in the “row,” where all the different Escapee chapters and BOFs (Birds of a Feather) set up booths to recruit new members. We belong to several BOFs, which tend to be non geographical, such as Elks, Geocachers, and a group called Boomers, for the baby boomers. We don't belong to any chapters because they tend to be tied to geographic areas. We also went through the vendor area, buying a few little gizmos and gadgets, but nothing major. The majority of the vendors had been at the FMCA rally in Chandler just a week earlier, so we had already seen their wares. We also went to a seminar put on by some people we know who have a company called “Geeks on Tour” and they specialize in helping people with computers, tablets, smartphones and the like.

After our time in the event area we went back to the coach and had a brief rest. We had cocktails about 5:00 and sat outside with the Bullock's. We then cooked some carne asada and chicken on the BBQ for a nice Mexican feast. About 7:30 I went back to the events area for another jam session. There were more players in this one and it was not quite as much fun because most of the players were much more experienced and better players than I and I had trouble keeping up with their songs. We played until a little after 8:30 and then I went back to the coach and we watched TV until bedtime.

Wednesday, March 22^nd, we left the coach about 9:30 so Jackie could go to PT. After PT we stopped at a fast food place called Culvers, a place which we had never been to. The food was very good and I was impressed by their menu. We may have to go again sometime so I can try some of the other menu items. We both had fish sandwiches, but I had cod and Jackie had walleye. I have never been to a fast food place that gave you a choice like that. We then went back to the fairgrounds and then walked back to the events area where we went to another seminar by the Geeks, this one on smartphones, and then a geocaching seminar put on by some friends of ours. After the seminars, and another quick run through the vendors, we went back to the coach and relaxed for a while. We had cocktails at 5:00 and then a dinner of leftovers from last night. We sat and talked for a while and by 8:00 we were back in our coach watching TV.

Thursday, March 23^rd, the last day of the Escapade. There was a fast moving storm that came through the area overnight, so we woke up to rain, wind and really cold temps. Where it has been in the 90's every day for a week, this morning it is in the low 50's. Vernon and I went down to the events area about 10:00 for a seminar on resources that you can use when you travel to find out the historical locations, local myth and lore, and other weird and wacky about any area you are going into. It was very interesting and I picked up a couple of hints. Jackie and I are always looking for interesting things when we travel. Geocaching helps a lot, but now I have other resources as well. After the seminar we went back to the coach and then the four of us went out for lunch. We went to a nice Italian and pizza restaurant in a newly built up rural area south of the fairgrounds, out in the county area. It is called New Vail and is quite a large area of very nice homes on large lots. The restaurant was great, with great food and service. I was in an old Circle K building, so the acoustics in the place were terrible, it was very loud, but that would be the only bad thing I could say about it. It was called Argenziano's Italian Cafe.

After lunch we went back to the coach and relaxed for a bit, then walked down to the auditorium for the closing ceremonies. They gave away some more prizes, but none of us won anything, boohoo. After the closing ceremonies the Escapade is officially over. We are staying here at the fairgrounds until Sunday, but there are no more rally activities. We spent the afternoon doing some chores and at 5:00 had cocktails with the Bullock's in their coach. It was really cold and windy all day today, so we didn't go outside. After cocktails Peggy served a nice pasta dish for dinner. We stayed until about 8:00, then went back to our coach for the rest of the evening.

Friday, March 24^th, a free day for us. We left the coach about 10:00 with Peggy and Vernon and went out to do some geocaching. We have not done a lot of caching since Jackie banged up her knee, but it is slowly starting to heal, so we took advantage of the free time. We were able to get 18 new finds, and one DNF, in about three and a half hours, including taking an hour or so for brunch. One of the finds was another milestone for us, find number 8,400! Yea us! We went back to the coach about 2:00 and spent the rest of the afternoon doing some chores. We had cocktails with Peggy and Vernon about 5:30 and then had dinner. I had cooked up a nice pot of chili, and Peggy made some corn bread, so we had a great meal. About 7:30 they left and went back to their coach and we relaxed the rest of the evening.

Saturday, March 25^th, another free day. Peggy and Vernon pulled out this morning, heading for Apache Junction, up in the Phoenix area. We are also going there tomorrow, but we are going to a State Park and the Bullock's are going to an RV park. The fairgrounds are just about empty now as people pull out. This is the last day that people can stay as part of the Escapade, although the fairgrounds RV park is open all year, so I guess you could stay longer if you went to the office and paid for extra nights.

We went out after lunch and did some errands. We stopped at Camping World for a couple little things that we were unable to get at the rallies. We also did a little geocaching, getting eight new finds. It is good to be caching again. We then did a Walmart run and headed back to the coach. I spent an hour or so cleaning up the outside decorations, getting ready to hit the road again tomorrow. We had cocktails and dinner on our own, then watched some TV until bedtime.

Sunday, March 26^th, a travel day. We were packed up and on the road a little after 10:00, heading north back to the Phoenix area. Today we are heading to the far eastern part of the “Valley of the Sun” to Apache Junction. This town sits at the edge of the Superstition Mountains, which I personally think are one of the prettiest mountain ranges in the country. Although most people think of Apache Junction as part of the Phoenix metro area, it is actually just over the county line in Pinal County, not Maricopa County. It is a small town, about, about 36,000, with lots of retirees and snowbird RV parks. It was about 150 miles to the Lost Dutchman State Park just north of Apache Junction. We have never stayed in this Arizona State Park before and found out about it from some friends we met geocaching who are spending the winter working as camp hosts at the park. Russ and Nellie Reichert live in Grants Pass, Oregon and have a nice motor home and like to get out of Oregon during the winters. They are also hot air balloon enthusiasts, having owned and flown one in the past. Russ has retired from piloting, but they still love to go to balloon rallies.

We arrived at the park about 2:00 and got parked and set up. We are going to be here for six nights before moving to the far West end of the Valley, to the Sun City area. This park is named the Lost Dutchman because of the legend of Jacob Waltz, a German emigrant who is said to have found and mined gold in the back country of the Superstitions. Some say it was not a mine, but a cache of gold that he stole from the Apache Indians who lived in the area. He died 1891 without telling anyone where his cache of gold was. People have been searching for for the Lost Dutchman's Mine ever since.

About 5:00 we had cocktails with our friends Russ and Nellie, the camp hosts in this campground, who are parked just one site over from us. After our social hour we went back to the coach, had dinner and then relaxed the rest of the evening. It has been over three weeks since we published a new post, so our moving from Tucson to Apache Junction marks a good place to close out this chapter and get it online. Until the next time remember the words of Eleanor Roosevelt. “The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” Get out there and taste life! See ya soon.